CONCORD, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) A 78-year-old Swanzey man has admitted in federal court that he failed to disclose multiple online accounts and identifiers required under federal sex offender registration laws.

David MacLean pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire to a single count of failing to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante set sentencing for Dec. 3.

MacLean is required to register under the federal Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, following a 2018 conviction for possessing child sexual abuse material.

Federal prosecutors said MacLean was released from prison in January 2021 and completed a sex offender registration in November of that year. The filing listed only a Yahoo email address, despite SORNA requirements covering online identifiers such as email addresses, usernames and social media accounts.

The case came to investigators’ attention after MacLean told his probation officer that he had used an artificial intelligence image generator to create an illegal image, which he subsequently deleted.

A federal investigation later determined that MacLean had subscribed to an AI image-generation website and maintained additional online accounts that were not included in his registration information. Prosecutors identified accounts associated with Facebook, X and Reddit.

Investigators also examined an iPad belonging to MacLean. According to court documents, the device contained evidence connecting him to the unregistered accounts, including cached data from the Reddit application containing a video depicting child sexual abuse. Prosecutors said the evidence indicated the video had been accessed through the Reddit application while MacLean was using his unregistered Reddit account.

Authorities said MacLean was aware that he was required to disclose his online identifiers but did not include the accounts in his registration paperwork.

The federal failure-to-register charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a minimum of five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The ultimate sentence will be determined by a federal judge based on federal sentencing guidelines and applicable statutes.

The U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter handling the prosecution.

The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative established in 2006 to investigate and prosecute crimes involving the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.