CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- A 39-year-old Summerville man will spend eight years behind bars after being convicted on child pornography charges.

In October 2020, Justin Michael Beauvais accepted a job in South Carolina while on leave from a subcontractor position at the Naval Information Warfare Center at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

Officials said Beauvais asked coworkers at McMurdo Station to reformat his personal hard drive and mail it to his home in Summerville that same month.

A few days later, a coworker located Beauvais’ hard drive and videos that depicted a nude prepubescent girl. The content was reported to superiors who confirmed that there was child pornography on the hard drive, according to a news release.

The release states that Beauvais initially denied the allegations during an interview with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents, but later admitted that he had copied child pornography from his personal device in S.C. to the hard drive which he took with him to Antarctica.

A subsequent search of Beauvais’ residence and electronic devices revealed thousands of pornographic images of children, including minors and toddlers, prosecutors said.

Beauvais was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of court-ordered supervision. He was also ordered to pay $51,500 in restitution to the victims.