A USF computer specialist was charged with 20 counts of child pornography possession Tuesday after a two-month online child exploitation investigation, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) media release.

Peter Barnhill, a technology and systems analyst in the USF Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, was taken into custody at his Riverview home, following an investigation by the HCSO Internet Predator Unit.

After Barnhill was in custody and his rights were relayed, “the defendant admitted to downloading files depicting child pornography and saving them in a folder titled, ‘Hold,'” the release stated. “Subsequent searches found numerous images and video/movie files depicting children as young as toddlers either posed in lewd positions or engaged in sexual activity. The files were located in a folder titled, ‘Hold III.’ Some of the files are from identified child pornography series known to detectives.”

HCSO Public Information Officer Debbie Carter said Barnhill was charged with 20 counts – one for each pornographic photo depicting a child found when detectives first entered his home. She said charges could be added if more are found during the course of the investigation.

“It’s a felony,” she said. “In his case, it’s enhanced to a second-degree felony because some of the children were as young as toddlers.”

Detectives confiscated his home computers and hard drives at the scene and are currently investigating their contents, she said, though there is no “time frame” for when the investigation will be completed.

University Police spokesman Lt. Chris Daniel said in an email that the University has no role in the investigation.

Director of USF Health and Communications Anne Baier said she believes the University will not issue an official statement until more information is gathered from the HCSO investigation. Baier and Carter said they are uncertain if USF work computers used by Barnhill were confiscated as well.

“At some point, I’m sure that USF will be involved,” Baier said, “but we won’t know that until the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office does what it needs to do.”

Baier said Barnhill has been a USF employee since 1994 and has been placed on administrative leave with pay, a normal procedure, since his Tuesday arrest.

According to the police report, Barnhill was being held at the Orient Road Jail with $150,000 bond.