SKAGIT COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Skagit County man has been indicted on federal child pornography charges.

U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Tessa Gorman says that 71-year-old Alan Meirhofer was taken into federal custody on July 17.

He was initially jailed in 2021 after a teen who had borrowed his phone found sexually explicit content involving children.

Investigators learned that Meirhofer regularly met and invited teen boys from across the county to his home and provided them with gifts, such as alcohol and marijuana.

His electronic devices were seized and also contained dozens of child pornography files.

Meirhofer is a registered level three sex offender as a result of several sex crimes he committed in the ’80s and ’90s in both Whatcom and Skagit Counties.

He was civilly committed to McNeil Island as a sexually violent predator before he was released in 2017.

If convicted, Meirhofer could face up to 20 years in prison.