WORCESTER — A Spencer man was sentenced to more than two years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Joseph Michael Smith, 60, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Worcester to 27 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Smith pleaded guilty in November to one count of possession of child pornography.

Smith faced up to 20 years in jail per federal guidelines for one charge of possession of child pornography. Plus, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine up to $250,000.

Investigators received several tips that child pornography was shared from messenger accounts tied to Smith’s address.

During a search of Smith’s home, a computer drive was seized and a forensic analysis revealed 35 videos of children as young at 2 years old being sexually abused.

Investigators also found over 300 images of child pornography that had been downloaded and deleted from a USB drive.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. It was launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @henrytelegram

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Massachusetts man sentenced to prison for possession of child porn