A 31-year-old North Whidbey man is accused of possessing and sharing child pornography, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Andrew A. Blakney in Island County Superior Court April 12 with dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first degree.

The charge for allegedly dealing in child pornography, which means to knowingly disseminate the visual matter, carries a longer standard sentencing range than a possession charge.

The investigation began in January 2020, when a representative from Kik, a messaging and file-sharing app, alerted Homeland Security that a subscriber shared a file that was possibly child pornography.

The subscriber was identified through a summons to the internet provider, according to a report by a detective with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

In February of last year, a special agent and task force officers obtained and executed a search warrant for Blakney’s home.

Blakney allowed the investigators to log into his Kik account and they discovered he was a member of several groups with names like “Share kids.”

Later, the special agent obtained a federal search warrant for Blakney’s account and obtained videos, images and other information, the report states.

The case was then passed to a detective with the Island County Sheriff’s Office who reviewed and stored the evidence. He identified “at least 85” video files that meet the statutory description of child porn, the report indicates.

If convicted of the charges against him, Blakney could face a sentence in the standard range of 31-41 months in prison.