SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A Bay Area man was convicted on charges related to sexually exploitive images of children, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

A federal jury convicted 64-year-old Johnny Ray Wolfenbarger after a week-long trial, the DOJ said. The South Bay resident has been under investigation for several years, after the FBI got a tip about his computer activity from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

According to the DOJ, Wolfenbarger was caught by a web services provider with exploitive images in an email attachment, which the provider told authorities about. The FBI received a search warrant in 2016 to scan his emails, at which point they linked the account to him.

Evidence provided during the trial showed that Wolfenbarger had paid people in the Philippines “to create custom-made child pornography at his direction, which was transmitted to him live via webcam,” the DOJ said. Not only did he have this contact online, but he also traveled to the Philippines in 2015 and 2016, according to records presented at the trial.

The DOJ said when he arrived at San Francisco International Airport from one of those trips, he was questioned by an FBI agent and admitted to “requesting and watching sex acts carried out by children between the ages of three and twelve years old during his webcam viewing sessions,” which he used Western Union to pay for.

Western Union records produced at trial documented over $25,000 in money transfers from Wolfenbarger to individuals in the Philippines, according to the DOJ.

He was convicted on the following charges: attempted production of child pornography, the attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in child pornography production, and the receipt of child pornography.

Wolfenbarger’s sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 8, 2021. He remains in custody pending sentencing.

He faces a minimum of 15 years in prison due to the attempted production conviction, and each conviction has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.