A Lincoln County man was sentenced to prison Monday for possession of child pornography.

Joseph Freeman, 55, of Wesson, pleaded guilty to one count of child exploitation before Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge David Strong. Freeman was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 30 of those years suspended, leaving 10 years to serve, followed by five years of post-release supervision.

Freeman must serve his sentence day-for-day without the possibility of parole. Freeman was ordered to pay $1,000 to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund, $1,000 to the Mississippi Crime Victim Compensation Fund, an additional $5,000 in fines and must register as a sex offender.

Freeman was arrested April 7 at his home by investigators with the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit with assistance from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department. It was discovered through an investigation that Freeman was in possession of electronic media which contained child sexual exploitation videos, according to a news release from Attorney General Jim Hood’s office.

“There is no pity in Mississippi for this defendant or other predators who are targeting our kids online,” Hood said. “We appreciate Judge Strong for putting this defendant behind bars, then ordering him to pay a hefty fine. Our office will continue to join forces with state and local agencies to track down these predators to help protect our children.”

The was case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Brandon Ogburn of the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit.