AUBURN – A 19-year-old Litchfield man pleaded not guilty Thursday to 27 charges of possession of sexually explicit materials stemming from alleged misuse of a company computer.

Justin Hart, who also lists a Sylvan Avenue, Lewiston, address, appeared in Androscoggin County Superior Court to answer the class C felony charges in a grand jury indictment handed up earlier this month. He answered a summons to appear in court.

Police said Hart was at a local business in December where he was working on a job as part of a cleaning crew. He was able to access a company computer to link to 27 different groups of child pornography, police said. The pornography sites contained roughly 70 images of children younger than 12 years old in sexually explicit poses, court papers said.

Hart also was charged with criminal invasion of computer privacy, a class D misdemeanor, for allegedly using the company’s computer without authorization.

He told Justice Thomas Delahanty II that he understood the charges. When asked by a clerk how he pleaded to the 28 counts, Hart answered, “Not guilty.”

He remained free on personal recognizance with no bail or monetary bond to assure his return to court.

Delahanty included as one of the conditions of Hart’s release that he refrain from using a computer to access the World Wide Web, “or cell phones that are connected to the Internet, as well,” Delahanty said.

George Hess, a local attorney who represented Hart, said his client agreed to those terms.

Shortly after the pornography was discovered on its computer, company representatives contacted police who followed up with an investigation. The pornographic images were forwarded to the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, police said. The images were verified as authentic, but not local, police said.

Hart was fired from the cleaning company, which police declined to name. Hart told the judge Thursday that he was seeking a new job.

Although he lists a Litchfield address as his residence, police said he was living in Lewiston at the time the images were downloaded.