A Concord man pled guilty on Friday in connection to the exploitation of a child in New Jersey.

Scott Wilkinson, 37, was before the federal court on Friday in connection with the charges that he exploited a child in the Garden State and was in possession of child sexual abuse material while in Concord, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

An investigation revealed that Wilkinson traveled from New Hampshire to New Jersey in April 2022, where he engaged in a sexual act with a 12-year-old.

Prior to his travels, he had been conversing with the child online for a year.

As a result of the investigation, police found a video on Wilkinson’s cell phone of himself and the child engaging in sexual acts, along with other images and videos of child sexual abuse material.

Wilkinson faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and mandatory restitution.

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire Jane E. Young and her office were assisted by the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals and federal, state and local resources as part of the project’s nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.