FARGO - A federal judge has sentenced a man to 30 years in prison in a child sex case that prosecutors said involved about 1 million computer images of pornography.

Steven Cartier, 47, of Oberon, was sentenced in federal court Thursday on 11 counts, including sexually exploiting a child under 12 to produce a video, possession of child pornography and making false statements to the FBI.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Webb called it the largest child pornography case in the district and "perhaps the region."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl said authorities found about 1 million images and 4,000 videos of child pornography in Cartier's possession.

"These are children forced to do unthinkable acts, beyond the human imagination," she said.

Cartier pleaded guilty in April but reserved the right to appeal. Defense attorney David Dusek said he planned to appeal Webb's ruling on evidence in the case.

In court Thursday, Cartier had no reaction to testimony from the mother of a girl who was younger than 12 when Cartier had sex with her.

"This is something you don't ever get over and you don't forget," the woman said, sobbing. In a letter to Webb, she asked for a sentence of life in prison.

Webb said Cartier should serve his time in a federal institution for sexually deviant criminals. While declining to impose life in prison, the judge ordered supervised probation for the rest of Cartier's life.

Cartier, a former emergency medical services manager, was arrested in May 2006, after an investigation that began with a tip from police in Spain and tracked payments to an Internet address in Oberon, a small town in east central North Dakota. FBI agents seized 13 computer hard drives, two thumb drives, videotapes and about 150 compact discs, Puhl said.

Cartier was a "prolific collector for child pornography," she said.

Dusek said the law makes no distinction between 600 images and 6 million, and said his client had no prior criminal record.

Webb used the words "heinous, cruel, degrading, disgusting and repulsive" to describe the sex crimes. "The court looked up every one of these words, and they apply," the judge said.

"I hope you can get some treatment for sexual deviance," Webb told Cartier.

Puhl said outside the courthouse that she was pleased with the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley issued a statement saying that even though prosecutors had asked for life, "considering that Steve Cartier is 47 years old, today's 30-year sentence approaches that important objective and informs others that the gloves are off."