SAN DIEGO -- A lead investigator testified Tuesday that known child pornography videos were tracked to a computer in the Santee home of a former Children's Hospital employee accused of molesting disabled youngsters.

San Diego police Sgt. Christopher Armstrong said two child pornography files were recovered from the home computer of Wayne Albert Bleyle.

Armstrong, the lead investigator for San Diego's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, was the first witness to testify in Bleyle's preliminary hearing, which is expected to last at least three days.

The sergeant said authorities were conducting a general investigation into Peer 2 Peer computer networks a year ago when they noticed known child porn going to an Internet protocol address, later tracked to a computer in Bleyle's home.

Bleyle, a respiratory therapist at the hospital, was running a free Internet file-sharing program on his computer, Armstrong testified.

The sergeant said he was "virtually positive" that the files traced to Bleyle's computer were child pornography.

Armstrong testified that he observed someone using Bleyle's IP address online five times between Sept. 30 and Nov. 15 of last year.

The witness said he did not view any video files on Bleyle's computer.

Armstrong said he enlisted the help of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a search of Bleyle's home was conducted on March 2.

Bleyle's wife let agents in, but the defendant was in Buffalo, N.Y., visiting his ill father, who was recovering from brain surgery, according to court testimony.

When contacted there, Bleyle told an ICE agent that he'd been molesting youngsters since about 1996, according to a search warrant filed in the case.

During a subsequent interview, the defendant allegedly admitted having at least 100 video files depicting child porn, according to court documents.

Bleyle, who worked in the hospital's convalescent ward, is charged with eight counts of committing lewd acts on a child, 25 counts of distributing child pornography and eight counts of using a child to create child porn.

He faces up to 158 years to life in prison if convicted of the 41 felony counts, said Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn.

The prosecutor told Judge Kenneth So that she plans to add a 42nd count soon, charging Bleyle with molesting a boy in 1988 or 1989.