A former Butler County elementary school teacher who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges last year has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for accessing child pornography sites with a school-issued laptop, taking pornographic images of students, and for possessing child pornography he collected from the Internet.

Ryan Fahrenkamp, 43, of Mason, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati by Senior U.S. District Judge Herman Weber.

Fahrenkamp, who worked in the Lakota School District for 14 years, most recently taught at Endeavor Elementary. Lakota suspended him in spring 2010 after a parent complained that Fahrenkamp inappropriately communicated with a student via text message. According to court documents, he had been reprimanded previously for a similar offense. The texts were not sexual in nature, according to reports. Fahrenkamp later resigned.

During their investigation of the text messaging, school officials examined Fahrenkamp’s school-issued laptop and discovered images of what appeared to be shirtless underage males, some of whom previously attended Lakota schools.

A forensic review of the Fahrenkamp’s camera and laptop computer revealed more than 600 images and a video featuring child pornography.

FBI agents and West Chester police arrested Fahrenkamp on Jan. 3, 2011. He has been in custody since his arrest and pleaded guilty last Aug. 31 to single counts of transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

“Fahrenkamp is not the ‘typical’ child pornographer this court has dealt with previously,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy wrote in a pre-sentencing memorandum. “Fahrenkamp was a trusted educator in his community. He violated that trust by subjecting former pupils to sexual abuse.”

After his release from prison, Fahrenkamp will be required to register as a sex offender anywhere he lives, works, or attends school. While under court supervision, Fahrenkamp is prohibited from access to a computer and from having contact with minors, either physically or online.