News Photo by Julie Riddle Defendant Christopher Olsen waits behind plexiglass in the jury box of Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court courtroom on Monday. Olsen was sentenced to 430 days time served and 5 years’ probation for possession of thousands of images of child pornography.

ALPENA — Christopher Olsen, of Alpena, was sentenced Monday to time served and 5 years probation for possession of child pornography.

Arrested in January 2020, while he was employed as custodian at All Saints Catholic School in Alpena, Olsen pleaded guilty to the accusation last month.

Olsen was terminated by the school on the day of his arrest.

Following up on a tip from Dropbox — an online photo- and file-sharing service — police discovered thousands of photos and videos containing child pornography on Olsen’s electronic devices. Olsen admitted to trading and sharing the pornography for the past decade, according to police reports obtained by The News through a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request.

Olsen’s admission to trading child sexually abusive materials with like-minded individuals was “disturbing indeed,” Defense attorney Matt Wojda told Judge Benjamin Bolser in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court Monday.

Still, the attorney argued, Olsen didn’t produce the materials himself, nor did he sexually assault anyone.

Pointing out Olsen’s decorated military service as a veteran of the National Guard and his cooperation with the police investigation, Wojda urged Bolser to mandate addiction treatment in place of more jail time, the better to keep Olsen from victimizing anyone else.

Olsen told the court he is deeply remorseful for his actions. The anger and outrage of the community in response to his mistakes has been difficult on his family, he said, adding that he hopes to someday be able to do good for society again.

Bolser said Olsen’s remorse and cooperativeness, coupled with the therapy he’s received and the fact that he didn’t directly produce the pornography, were mitigating factors in his sentencing.

“The chain of commerce is what produces victims,” Bolser said. “Every picture he had, there was a victim in there, but he never produced it, and he has yet to sexually assault anyone.”

According to Bolser, Olsen told a probation officer he was afraid he would eventually regress to touching children.

Bolser sentenced Olsen to 430 days in jail, with that time already served in the Alpena County Jail. Olsen will be on probation for five years, during which time he will undergo addiction treatment with as-yet unspecified parameters.

Bolser suggested Olsen’s probation terms should include a provision that he be prevented from taking a job that would bring him close to children and teenagers.

If Olsen violates the terms of his probation, he could serve up to 25 years in prison, Bolser said.