A Barren County man accused of sharing a video online of an infant being sexually exploited pleaded guilty on Tuesday to multiple federal crimes.

Christopher Michael Marsh, 37, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green to charges of sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography.

An indictment returned last year against Marsh by a federal grand jury accused him of using the child between September 2021 and Jan. 1, 2022, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video or visual depiction of that conduct, which was then shared with others.

Federal public defender Scott Wendelsdorf, who was appointed to represent Marsh, said in court that the evidence would likely have shown at trial that Marsh showed the illicit video to others in a chatroom and that one of the participants recorded the footage unbeknownst to Marsh and distributed that footage with other people.

The offenses to which Marsh pleaded guilty carry a maximum combined penalty of 50 years in prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky will recommend a 35-year sentence for Marsh, according to a copy of the plea agreement in the case, which also allows the defense to request a 15-year sentence.

Marsh has an active case against him in Barren Circuit Court, where he faces charges of first-degree sodomy (victim less than 12 years of age) and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse (victim less than 12 years of age).

The Glasgow Police Department arrested Marsh on July 3, 2023, after being contacted by a Department of Homeland Security special agent who had been provided a video from the United Kingdom of child sexual exploitation that appeared to have been created by Marsh and then transmitted internationally, according to an arrest citation.

The state case against Marsh is pending, and carries a maximum potential penalty of life in prison.

Marsh, who is in custody at Grayson County Detention Center, will be sentenced  March 10 on the federal case.