FARGO - A former state mental hospital psychologist pleaded guilty this morning to two federal charges of receiving of child pornography.
Joseph Tudor Belanger, 61, of Jamestown, N.D., entered the pleas openly, meaning there is no plea agreement for the judge to consider. He faces a minimum mandatory five years in prison.
As part of his position, Belanger, who worked at the State Hospital in Jamestown for more than 20 years, testified in court on whether convicted sex offenders were dangerous and should be confined indefinitely for psychiatric treatment.
He told investigators he developed an interest in child pornography while treating the sex offenders, a federal prosecutor said this morning. Investigators discovered thousands of images of child pornography on Belanger's computers, including 3,000 on one he brought to work.
Belanger resigned from the state hospital last November. He sent a letter detailing what he called his "compulsive viewing of pornography" in a Nov. 27 letter to the State Psychologist Examiners. In the letter, he describes his personal struggle with being attracted to the images and fighting urges to kill himself.
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Sentencing in the case has been set for December 11.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
