A one-time Howell Public Schools IT worker faces what could be a stiff federal prison sentence after admitting Tuesday to having downloaded child pornography, federal prosecutors said.

Matthew Wolny. (Ocean County Prosecutor's Office)

The U.S. Attorney's Office had charged Matthew Wolny in June, almost five years after the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office first arrested Wolny on charges of manufacturing and distributing child porn.

Wolny, most recently of Egg Harbor Township, pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Trenton to a single count of receiving child pornography, prosecutors said in a statement.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for Wolny's home in Jackson in September 2013 after tracing explicit images of child abuse to his IP address over a file-sharing network, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Wolny, now 40, tried to flee when officers arrived, the complaint says, but was quickly arrested. A search of seven electronic devices found in his home turned up 2,000 images and approximately 1,600 videos of child sexual abuse, investigators said.

Wolny, who had worked for the school district since 2000, was immediately suspended after his arrest, school officials told The Star-Ledger at the time.

He could no longer be located in state pension records as of Tuesday.

Wolny's defense attorney, Jack Wenik, did not immediately respond to a request Tuesday afternoon for comment on the guilty plea.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Wolny faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He's scheduled to be sentenced by Martinotti on April 8, 2019.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.