Man faces charges of child porn

Published 11:15 am Wednesday, February 5, 2014

AUSTIN — After a collection of child pornography had been turned over to authorities more than a year ago, an Albert Lea man now faces seven felony charges.

Andrew Lee Bliss

Andrew Lee Bliss

Andrew Lee Bliss, 32, was arrested and later charged Tuesday in Mower County District Court with seven counts of possessing pornographic work involving minors. Bliss pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to the court complaint, another person was concerned Bliss had taken inappropriate videos of children and employees of a lawn care service while they were working. That person also gave Austin authorities Bliss’ computer hard drives and a chest with children’s photographs in October 2012, and was concerned Bliss had a problem.

Email newsletter signup

After obtaining a search warrant, detectives found about 20 pornographic photographs of children, the complaint added. Bliss was arrested on Tuesday. He has a pretrial hearing set for May 23.

A first-time conviction for child pornography in Minnesota is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. A second-time offense carries double the penalties. It also is illegal at the federal level.