DIXON – A 38-year-old Dixon man is in Lee County Jail on $500,000 bond, and charged with six counts of possession of child pornography, a felony that carries 2 to 5 years in prison on each count.

Steven P. Hibberd, 818 E. Second St., was arrested at 4:25 p.m. Friday at the Dixon Police Department, where he was being interviewed by Dixon and state police after a search of his home that morning, Dixon Sgt. Matt Richards said.

The investigation began about a week ago, when police and the Lee County State’s Attorney’s Office were tipped that Hibberd was attempting to meet underage girls via the Internet for sexual encounters, Richards said.

A search of Hibberd's home around 9:30 a.m. Friday by both police agencies turned up "numerous" digital images of juveniles engaged in various sex acts, Richards said in an interview and in a news release.

The investigation is ongoing, and more charges are pending, the release said.

According to court records:

In July 1994, when Hibberd was 17, he was charged in Lee County Court with aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 12-year-old. He pleaded guilty that September to the lesser abuse charge and was sentenced to 3 years 4 months probation.

In September 1997, he was charged in Whiteside County Court with four counts of aggravated battery of a child. On May 18, 1998, three of the four counts were dismissed; 3 days later, a jury convicted him of the fourth count and he was sentenced to the maximum 30 years in prison.

He was released in March.