BISMARCK — U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider has announced a guilty plea has been entered in federal court by a Williston man charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of minors over the internet.

Nicholas Anfin Nesdahl, 29, Williston pleaded guilty in federal court in Bismarck on Wednesday before District Court Judge Daniel Traynor to seven counts of producing or attempting to produce images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors charged in the District of North Dakota and two counts related to producing or attempting to produce and receiving images and videos of minors that were charged out of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Nesdahl’s sentencing is scheduled for June 24, where he faces between 30 years and 270 years in federal prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

Nesdahl pleaded guilty to friending minors online using various social networking platforms and grooming them to produce images and videos of themselves for him. Nesdahl’s activities were initially reported by a parent of two victims located in Pennsylvania, leading to an investigation and search of his home in Williston, which in turn uncovered evidence of at least seven other victims aged between six to 15 years old in North Dakota, Minnesota, Maryland, Texas and New Jersey.