MADISON — A 63-year-old Madison man with a history of sexual offenses was arrested Thursday for possessing child pornography, authorities said.

John Peters, 63, of Madison, is facing child pornography charges after a Somerset County Sheriff’s Office investigation. Photo courtesy of the Somerset County Jail

John Peters was arrested on nine counts of possession of sexually explicit material and one count of failure to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said in a statement Tuesday. All charges are class C felonies.

The Sheriff’s Office began investigating the case after receiving a complaint May 3 that Peters possessed child pornography, according to Lancaster. Detective Jeremy Leal found that Peters’ cell phone contained the explicit photos and videos, which was verified by a forensic examination by the computer crimes unit of the Maine State Police. Leal subsequently obtained an arrest warrant.

On Thursday, Deputy Jacob Dever arrested Peters on the warrant on Old Point Avenue in Madison, Lancaster said. Lancaster’s statement did not specify how the deputy located Peters.

Peters made his initial court appearance Monday in the Somerset County Unified Criminal Court in Skowhegan, where a judge reduced Peters’ cash bail from $20,000 to $5,000, Lancaster said. Peters is being held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, according to jail records.

If Peters posts bail, he is to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and is not allowed to have any form of electronic device that can be used for sending, receiving or viewing sexually explicit material, according to the sheriff.

Peters is a lifetime registrant on Maine’s Sex Offender Registry due to previous convictions in Maine and New Hampshire, according to Lancaster.

Maine’s online database of sexual offenders shows that Peters has two previous convictions of unlawful sexual contact in Maine and has been sentenced for aggravated felonious sexual assault and sexual assault in other states.

Peters is due back in court Aug. 28.