Michael Van Eekhout, 51, of Westbrook, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to transporting child pornography and transmitting an extortionate threat.

According to U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II, in late 2011, Van Eekhout, posing online under an assumed name, persuaded a woman to send him nude photographs of herself. He then told her that he would widely disseminate the photos unless she took explicit photos of herself and sent them to him. When she did so, he posted the photos online. In April 2012, he threatened to continue doing so unless she sent him more explicit photos.

In June 2014, Van Eekhout, posing as the woman, sent an undercover federal agent a digital photograph of a naked pre-pubescent female. The next month, he was interviewed during the execution of a search warrant at his Westbrook home and admitted that he had sent the photograph and had pretended to be the woman, Delahanty said.

The defendant faces a sentence of between five and 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to life on the child pornography charge. He faces a sentence of up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to one year on the threat charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office, Delahanty said.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.