A 35-year-old Oak Harbor man who bribed and threatened an 11-year-old boy into performing sexual acts and videotaping him was sent to prison Wednesday.

Dennis Flanagan, Jr., pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court to sexual exploitation of a minor.

Judge Vickie Churchill agreed with the sentence recommendation from the defense and prosecution. She sentenced him to three years in prison, followed by up to four years of supervision in the community by the Department of Corrections. He will have to register as a sex offender.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andrea Vingo said she agreed on the sentence, which is the middle of the sentence range, after extensive negotiations.

In court, Flanagan only said three words in his defense: “Sorry, your honor.”

Detective Sue Quandt with the Island County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. She wrote in her report that the boy said he engaged in sexual activity with Flanagan for more than four years, until the boy put a stop to it.

The victim said Flanagan would threaten to tell the boy’s mother or would bribe him with video games. Flanagan recorded the sexual activity on a digital camera and on the computer web camera.

Flanagan’s wife discovered photos of the boy engaged in sexual activity, as well as other images of apparent child pornography, on her husband’s computer, court records state. She handed over two disks of the images to investigators.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.