— A Raleigh man was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of manufacturing child pornography.

Robert Higdon, Jr., the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced Friday that Robin Christopher Hildred, 47, will also serve a lifetime term of supervised release following his time in prison.

"Robin Christopher Hildred is a predator who victimized countless children through his distribution and possession of child pornography," Higdon said in a statement. "But, perhaps even worse, he preyed upon his own vulnerable daughter. The man who should have been caring for and protecting her, exploited her in the most disgusting and tragic way."

Hildred was accused of his crimes in 2018 when investigators connected the IP address of a computer that had a sexual interest in infants and toddlers and shared explicit child pornography links and pictures to Hildred's home, according to a press release.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Raleigh Police, Cary Police, Boone Police, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service.

During a search of Hildred's home, the U.S. Department of Justice said he admitted to downloading child pornography and taking sexually explicit photos of his 20-month-old daughter. The pictures were taken by his phone and staged in his home between December 2017 and April 2018, many of which were shared.

In total, 2,229 pictures and 12 videos of child pornography were seized from Hildred's home.

"Today's sentence ensures he cannot victimize any more children for the next 30 years," Higdon said.