A Lehighton man is facing what could be a life sentence after pleading guilty on Monday to child sexual assault charges in Carbon County court.

Jason Keith Keiser, 29, of Lehighton, pleaded guilty before Judge Steven R. Serfass to one count of rape of a child, a felony 1.

Serfass told Keiser that under state sentencing guidelines he faces a minimum state prison term of somewhere between 10 and 20 years up to a maximum of 40 years.

In October 2018 he was sentenced in federal court to serve 22 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervision. If Serfass runs the sentence consecutive to the federal term, Keiser faces the possibility of a life sentence adding the two terms together.

In federal court Keiser was sentence on sexual exploitation of children charges.

The federal complaint against Keiser is similar to that filed by state police.

The charges stemmed from a federal law enforcement investigation, along with state police and local officials, in which investigators executed search warrants that resulted in the discovery of a very large collection of child pornography on Keiser’s electronic devices, including child pornography images and videos created by Keiser. Keiser also shared child pornography with others via social media applications.

Local officials also said Keiser sexually assaulted a then 2-year-old girl and took photographs of her and a 2-year-old male naked and distributed them on social media.

Keiser’s plea has done via video conference from the county prison where he is being held for the Carbon charges. He had been in custody, either state or federal, since June 9, 2018.

Serfass accepted the plea but deferred sentencing ordering the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report. Keiser must also be evaluated by the state sexual offenders assessment board to determine if he is a violent sexual predator.