JAMES HANNA, the man behind the Blaenavon Book Town initiative, has pleaded guilty in America to charges of producing child pornography.

Hanna now faces up to 60 years' imprisonment for his crimes.

During a hearing at Fayetteville, Arkansas United States District Court Judge Jimm Larry Hendren accepted Hanna's guilty plea, a day ahead of a planned trial.

According to court records the case came to light in August 2012 after a concerned parent contacted the Madison County Sheriff's Office with information that Hanna had allegedly sexually assaulted two 13-year-old girls.

In response, the Madison County Sheriff's office interviewed the teenagers and discovered that Hanna had been taking sexually explicit photos of them at his home.

Based on this information, a search warrant was carried out at Hanna's residence and work place, which resulted in the confiscation of electronic equipment and digital cameras.

A subsequent forensic examination of the confiscated items revealed sexually explicit images of the minors and hundreds of other images.

After his arrest in Madison County, Arkansas, in August 2012, he was indicted the following month on three counts of rape involving a minor and 25 counts of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or printed medium and one count of sexual indecency with a child and three counts of internet stalking of a child.

Mississippi-born Hanna began the Blaenavon Book Town Initiative in 2003 in a bid to regenerate the area and funded a local photography scheme for young people during his time in the town.

During his time locally Hanna was investigated by Gwent Police, but no charges were brought.

But when Deputy Russell Alberts from Madison County Sheriff's Office said in September last year "We have identified all of our local victims, and there are many older pictures of girls that remain unidentified" his team turned to Gwent Police for help, as the American officers believe that some of the 2,000 images could date back to Hanna's time in Blaenavon.

Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, confirmed to American media on Monday that Hanna, aged 66, of Japton, Arkansas had pleaded guilty and added: "Preying upon the innocence of a child while hiding behind a computer is one of the most cowardly and detestable crimes imaginable. We will continue to target those who choose to victimise children, and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."

Raymond R. Parmer, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations said: "Ending the sexual exploitation of children is a top priority for Homeland Security Investigations and its law enforcement partners."

"While investigating and prosecuting abusers is a key part of this effort, our primary objective is to rescue victims; thankfully these two innocent girls will no longer face such horrific abuse."

Hanna will be sentenced at a later date.