The federal contract employee arrested in connection with the prolific distribution of child pornography late last week will remain behind bars without bail, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Peter W. North  was arrested Thursday after an FBI investigation concluded he was behind the dissemination of nearly 1,000 digital files containing child pornography during a six-month period. Agents also found in his Alexandria home 80 gigabytes — about 250 hours of video, or 25,000 pictures — of child pornography on an external hard drive, according to a sworn statement by FBI agent Chad J. Gallagher.

The files were distributed online via peer-to-peer networks like LimeWire, which is more commonly used to share copyrighted songs and videos.

North appeared in the U.S. Eastern District Court in Alexandria on Tuesday afternoon, his lean body enveloped by a dark-green jumpsuit and his thin, straight hair parted down the center. He remained silent as his attorney, public defender Rachel Martin, waived his rights to a probable cause hearing.

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On Thursday, after searching his house, federal agents arrived at North’s office in Vienna where he worked as a contract employee for IBM “providing information technology services to the Department of Homeland Security.”

According to Gallagher’s affidavit, North verified an external drive containing child pornography would be found in his house.

After North waived his rights to the hearing Tuesday, Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan ruled he should remain behind bars, given “the situation in North Carolina.”

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman James Rybicki declined to comment on what Buchanan meant.

But according to the affidavit, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified videos of a young girl engaged in sexually explicit activities in North Carolina found on North’s hard drive as someone the center believed to have been moved across state lines.

The center and the U.S. Department of Justice often work together on child pornography cases, Rybicki said, adding he couldn’t comment specifically on North’s case.

North faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison on charges of receipt of child pornography, but those charges may change after a grand jury reviews the case, Rybicki said.

“Cases like this have been around for years,” Rybicki said. “There are individuals broadcasting on the Internet, and while new technology improves their ability to hide, law enforcement is stepping up its technology too.”

fklopott@dcexaminer.com