A Spokane man with no previous criminal record was ordered Thursday to serve 5 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Richard L. Parham, 58, had nearly 600 explicit videos on his computers when investigators raided his home in July 2008.

A Washington State Patrol detective discovered Parham uploading some of the files to the Internet through a file sharing program that spring. Parham has been on electronic home monitoring since his indictment in August 2009.

He pleaded guilty in June to receiving child pornography and was ordered Thursday in U.S. District Court to serve 60 months in prison. He will be on probation for life and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Parham's lawyer, David Hearrean, said in court documents that his client has never spent even an hour in jail. He had asked the court to impose a sentence on Parham that would allow "for full recognition of what made him become intrigued with child pornography," according to a sentencing memorandum.

Parham worked for nearly 30 years at a Spokane laboratory but was forced to retire after he was charged, Hearrean wrote.

Parham told a psychologist he began looking at child pornography a few years awhile browsing adult pornography.

Investigators say he downloaded the nearly 600 videos between December 2007 and July 2008. The videos depicted children as young as one years old, and some were sadistic and masochistic in nature. Parham said he began viewing the material while looking at adult pornography online, according to court documents.

Parham will self report to federal prison.

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