A man in prison for sexually molesting a boy under age 12 in Chilton County has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced James Keith Stewart, 36, of Cullman County for receiving and possessing child pornography after two previous child sexual abuse convictions, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr.

Stewart, who is currently serving a 15-year state sentence on a 2013 conviction of sexually molesting a boy under age 12 at a public swimming area in Chilton County, pleaded guilty in federal court in March to receiving and possessing child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced him on those charges and ordered the federal sentence to be served concurrently with Stewart’s state sentence.

Along with Stewart’s 2013 conviction of sexual abuse of a child, he was convicted by court martial in 2003 for indecent acts upon a child.

Between August 2010 and February 2012, Stewart amassed a collection of thousands of images of child pornography, including sadistic and masochistic images of the rape of toddlers, and was trading the child pornography over the internet, according to court records.

The government recommended a 45-year prison sentence for Stewart and argued that lengthy incarceration is the only way to ensure that Stewart does not harm more children.

HSI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Barnes prosecuted.