MARC GAUTHIER, LEFT, stands with defense attorney Greg Seibold as he awaits sentencing in Dickinson County Circuit Court. (Brian Christensen/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A former Iron Mountain area man serving a five-year prison sentence for home invasion could spend an additional 25 years for viewing child pornography on a hotel computer.

Marc Gauthier, 53, was sentenced Monday in Dickinson County Circuit Court to a minimum of nine years for five counts of using computers to commit a crime, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison; and five counts of possession of child sexually abusive material, a four-year penalty.

Gauthier was convicted as a four-time habitual offender and could have served up to life in prison.

Defense attorney Greg Seibold said Gauthier had taken responsibility for his actions despite having little memory of the incident at the hotel due to his use of controlled substances.

Though he did not want to minimize Gauthier’s conduct, Seibold asked Dickinson County Circuit Judge Christopher Ninomiya be lenient.

“Mr. Gauthier has a mental illness that’s tied to his behavior,” Seibold said. “He’s not a monster. He needs help.”

Seibold added the prison system was not well-equipped to rehabilitate his client.

“The public is protected while Mr. Gauthier is incarcerated but what he needs is treatment,” Seibold said.

Dickinson County Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Richards said Gauthier’s criminal history — which included nine felonies and 15 misdemeanors — began at age 13 and had been consistent for four decades.

“It would appear to anyone looking at Mr. Gauthier’s record that he has a difficult time living outside of prison walls,” Richards said.

Richards asked Ninomiya impose the maximum sentence recommended in the pre-sentence investigation report.

“If it were not for Mr. Gauthier and others like him, children would not be exploited for sexual purposes,” Richards said.

Gauthier apologized to the victims at the hotel and in the pornographic material. He described himself as an unmedicated manic-depressive suffering from visual and auditory hallucinations at the time of the incident.

“I was insane,” Gauthier said, later adding, “I don’t know what I was doing.”

Gauthier said he had been attending psychological counseling, church services and Alcoholics Anonymous since his imprisonment in 2017.

Ninomiya gave Gauthier credit for the progress he made in prison but called his criminal history “substantial” and his previous behavior “extremely concerning.”

“One of the primary goals here has to be protection of our community,” Ninomiya said. “Unfortunately, the only way to do that at this point, given your history, is to incarcerate you for a significant period of time.”

According to the criminal complaint, an investigation revealed Gauthier had viewed more than a hundred images of child sexually abusive material on a desktop computer in the lobby of a local Iron Mountain motel in September 2016.

Gauthier initially pleaded not guilty June 28 but was rearraigned as part of a plea agreement.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Richards agreed to not seek consecutive sentences for each count of using computers to commit a crime.

Richards also recommended Gauthier receive credit toward his sentence starting from May 24, 2018, when the complaint and warrant were authorized for the case.

Gauthier was sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison after pleading no contest in 2017 to home invasion-second degree as a habitual offender-third.

Gauthier was found sleeping in an Iron Mountain home by the homeowner when they returned after a weekend away in December 2016, according to earlier reports.

The homeowner chased Gauthier out of the house and then discovered several items were missing, including prescription medication, food, clothing and personal hygiene items, the criminal complaint stated.