SHARE Michael Edwin Harding

By Melissa E. Holsman of TCPalm

FORT PIERCE — A former Port St. Lucie police officer will spend the rest of his life in prison related to multiple federal child exploitation convictions, a federal judge ordered on Monday.

Michael Edwin Harding, 28, was sentenced in federal court in Fort Pierce after pleading guilty in February to three counts of distributing material involving sexual exploitation of minors, possession of material involving sexual exploitation of minors, attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, and producing child pornography, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Funk, who prosecuted the case.

Harding was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to engage a minor in sexual activity. He received a total of 110 years for the other five convictions.

According to court papers, Harding, who joined the Port St. Lucie police in 2012 after previously working as a Fort Pierce police officer, appears to have accessed pornography via cellphone while on the job at night as a police officer.

The case stemmed from an investigation started by a federal agent in Wilmington, Delaware.

Through use of a search warrant, investigators found a thumb drive, linked to Harding, containing "hundreds of images of videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, " including pornographic images of a 6-year-old boy, a court document said.