Providence — A Westerly man on Thursday was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography.

U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. also ordered Normand Asselin, 41, to serve 10 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

Asselin had pleaded guilty to the federal charges on Sept. 23.

According to information presented in court, Asselin came to authorities’ attention when Google security personnel reported that images of child pornography had been uploaded on March 18, 2015, by email from an IP address belonging to Asselin.

Members of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who received that information, forwarded it to state police.

In May 2015, police executed a court-authorized search of Asselin’s Google email account, which they said revealed Asselin was sending and receiving child pornography.

In June 2015, the state police Internet Crimes Against Children task force arrested him on a warrant and carried out a search of his residence. According to information presented in court, that search revealed approximately 1,250 images and 70 videos of child pornography on his laptop.

Asselin has been in custody since his arrest.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker prosecuted the case.