A Burke County teacher—native of Avery County—center of an international child pornography investigation, has been sentenced what should be most of the rest of his life in prison after opting out of a trial by jury last week. Burke Court officials say the case against Michael Andrew Alexander reached a resolution in court Thursday when the former third-grade teacher pleaded guilty to six felony charges. Alexander, 54, of Glen Alpine, agreed to plead guilty to three counts of indecent liberties with a child and three counts of sexual offense with a child. The sudden plea ended a month long investigation by state, local and federal authorities into an international child pornography ring centered in Barcelona, Spain. Police say Alexander became a primary suspect in the case after European authorities discovered videos and photos in the possession of a known child pornographer in Barcelona. Media exchanged between the Spanish pornographer and an unknown American showed children in what appeared to be a classroom setting. When the classroom was discovered to belong to Hildebran Elementary School, Interpol agents immediately contacted U.S. federal authorities. Alexander was arrested June 13. Thursday, Judge Robert C. Ervin sentenced the former teacher to 49½ years in prison, and he was removed to the North Carolina Department of Correction in Raleigh. Alexander had been a school teacher in both McDowell and Burke counties.