Stephan DeGraffenreid, 26, of Gardnerville, pleaded guilty this week to charges of child sexual exploitation.
U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben accepted his plea to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
McKibben set sentencing in the case for Nov. 29. DeGraffenreid faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison on each count.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, child pornography was found on a computer tablet at the Heavenly Ski Resort Children’s Ski School. The device belonged to DeGraffenreid, a former employee at the resort, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre. That device justified a search warrant for DeGraddenreid’s residence, which located a thumb drive containing explicit images of children in a Gardnerville childcare facility restroom.
Myhre said DeGraffenreid admitted to taking the photos.