BOSTON — A Methuen man was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 70 months in prison and 15 years of supervised release on federal transportation and possession of child pornography charges yesterday.

At a prior plea hearing, prosecutors said Matthew Persichetti, 24, possessed images of child pornography in January on his computer in his home, and sent those images to others through the Internet, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan's office.

Specifically, Persichetti conversed and traded child pornography online with other people using Google Hello, including a person in Alaska.

Federal agents searched Persichetti's home on Jan. 3 and seized his laptop computer, where they found additional child pornography images. During the search, Persichetti told agents he had volunteered at an orphanage in Mexico. The agents located a text document on the man's computer detailing his rape of two children, aged 7 and 8, at an orphanage where he volunteered, though the rape itself has not been corroborated, the press release said.

Persichetti had received an award for being a role model when he graduated from Merrimack College two years ago.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Gershengorn in Sullivan's Major Crimes Unit.