A Bedford man has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography after investigators say he rented laptop computers from a Roanoke business and used them to upload explicit images to the Internet.

Sheriff's officials think James Allen Reed, 31, of Hardy rented at least three laptops over the past four years from Rent-A-Center in the 2700 block of Williamson Road in Northwest Roanoke. He is suspected of using those laptops to distribute lewd images of children on the Internet, said Bedford County sheriff's Investigator Rodney Thompson.

Thompson said it is too early to know whether any of the children featured in the images are from Southwest Virginia.

Reed's Internet service provider first alerted authorities to the situation in November, calling in a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to a search warrant filed in Roanoke Circuit Court last month, Reed had an America Online account and the screen name "HRDYREED."

Thompson said ISPs are required by law to report child pornography on the Internet.

After receiving the tip, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a Bedford County-based task force that specializes in investigations of Internet crimes against children. The task force executed a search warrant on Reed's residence in February.

While Reed did not have a personal computer at his home, officials say they found other evidence that showed exploitation of children. Thompson declined to elaborate on the evidence.

According to the Roanoke Circuit Court warrant, Reed told investigators that he had been renting laptops from Rent-A-Center and returning them every three to four months. That information led Bedford County investigators to obtain the search warrant for the Roanoke business in May.

They seized one laptop and some rental records from the business, but they think at least two other laptops that have not been located were also rented by Reed within the past four years, Thompson said.

On May 4, even before they searched Rent-A-Center, the Bedford authorities charged Reed with one count of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of distribution of child pornography in connection with the search of his residence, Thompson said.

Reed is being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority's adult detention center in Bedford. Meanwhile, Bedford investigators continue to sift through "tons of evidence" that may result in additional charges, Thompson said. He did not elaborate on what other charges are expected because the case is still under investigation.