BANGOR – A former teacher at Holbrook Elementary School in Holden is in Penobscot County Jail after pleading guilty Thursday in federal court to downloading child pornography onto a school computer.

Gerald Bailey, 55, of Bucksport was placed in the custody of the U.S. marshal after pleading guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

He had been free on $5,000 unsecured bond since Nov. 22 when he pleaded not guilty.

Bailey faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set.

Under a plea agreement between Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone and defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor, the recommended sentence would be about two years.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock would not be bound by that agreement, however, due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory rather than mandatory.

Two of Bailey’s pupils discovered the pornographic images three years ago and reported finding them to the school principal, according to court documents.

A forensic examination revealed that Bailey had received e-mails on the computer in his classroom confirming his membership in sexually oriented clubs.

Bailey admitted to investigators that he had been seeking out and viewing images of pornography for about two years, according to court documents. He also said that he was the one who had downloaded the images onto the school’s computer.

Investigators found about 90 images of “child erotica and child pornography” including one of a minor who has been identified in a previous investigation, according to court documents. That particular image was filed in federal court but sealed.

Bailey is the second former Holden teacher in the last year to be charged with possession of child pornography. Christopher Reardon, 34, now of Houlton, pleaded guilty in August to distributing pornography. His sentencing date has not been set.

Charges were brought against Reardon after he used computers in his Holden residence to transmit images of child pornography to a police officer in New Hampshire who was posing as a 14-year-old boy, according to court documents.

Reardon hasn’t been accused of using school computers to download or transmit pornography.