A 29-year-old Austin man pleaded not guilty to possessing hundreds of images of child pornography in Mower County District Court Thursday.

Aaron Manuel Jimenez Murphy faces 10 felony counts for possessing pornographic work involving minors.

In October, a special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was assigned to an Internet Crimes Against Children case involving an image uploaded on July 18 using Chatstep by someone using the nickname “Vincent.”

The image showed children ages 8 to 11 performing a sexual act on an adult male. The image was traced to a residence on the 1300 block of Seventh Street Northwest in Austin. The image was eventually traced to a previous investigation in Pierce County, Washington.

Then on Dec. 20, 2016, local officers and BCA officers executed a search warrant at the home and found evidence containing hundreds of images of child pornography on computer and flash drives, along with a .22 caliber rifle and marijuana.

Murphy was arrested and taken to the Mower County jail.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2017.