A high-ranking former Maryland state official who served under Republican Gov. Larry Hogan made his first appearance in federal court on Thursday after he was charged last week with distributing child sexual abuse images.

Luis Borunda, a former deputy secretary of state under Hogan, was charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child pornography, according to a federal indictment obtained by HuffPost.

Borunda was initially arrested by local law enforcement in August of last year and charged with sexual solicitation of a minor, after allegedly arranging to meet with an investigator who posed as a 13-year-old girl named Chloe, Capital Gazette reported at the time.

According to charging documents cited by the newspaper, Borunda had contacted Chloe through an online chat and introduced himself as Steve.