FARGO - A former state mental hospital psychologist who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography says he hopes his case will change attitudes on mental illness.

"I decided, no matter what, I was going to see this through and I was going to come out the other side, and I was not going to not only improve myself as a person, but use this experience generally for the good," James Belanger told The Associated Press in an interview as he awaited sentencing.

Belanger, 61, pleaded guilty in October to receiving and possessing materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. He told investigators he got interested in child pornography while treating sex offenders at the State Hospital in Jamestown, where he worked for more than 20 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl, who is prosecuting the case, said she would not comment specifically about Belanger until after his sentencing. It had been scheduled Thursday, but was postponed to Jan. 23.

"I will tell you generally that this is isn't just a pastime of looking at dirty pictures," Puhl said. "These are real children who have endured real pain and suffering for individuals who collect this material for satisfying their sexual gratification.

Belanger said he knew of another psychologist facing similar charges who committed suicide after his arrest. He has finished a rough draft of a book called "Sexually Dangerous Individual," which criticizes the mental health system he believes aids sexual deviants.

Belanger said he has battled depression and post traumatic stress from physical abuse as a child, and the stress of his work.

"'He, of all people, should have known better.' I've heard that one," Belanger said. "I understand why a person might think that and I'm not saying this to be self-serving, but that is the first thing that goes. You start to crumble under the stress.

"If it's true for me - and it is - just consider how many other people it is true for right now," he said.

In his own case, he said, "In comparison to the horrors I was looking at on a daily basis, trying to be strong and trying to do the right thing and trying at the same time say, 'I think this is going too far,' viewing pictures seemed like such a small thing."

Belanger often was asked to testify in court on whether convicted sex offenders were dangerous and should be confined indefinitely for psychiatric treatment. He was an expert witness in hundreds of cases.

Defense attorney Steven Light said Belanger has testified in several cases involving Light's clients.

"It's not as though I was shocked or fell off my chair," Light said of the charges against Belanger. "This can happen to anybody, it truly can. If anything, it just sort of opened up my eyes a little bit further to say, hey, this can in fact strike anybody."

Light said nobody is in favor of child pornography, but he said Belanger's case shows the need to change federal sentencing laws to make the punishment more severe for people who create child pornography than for the people who view it.

"When you boil it right down to what it is, we're putting people in prison for having looked at a picture," he said.

Puhl said the consequences are far-reaching.

"These people who collect this material are driving the market for new images which depict very violent conduct involving very young children," she said.

A letter Belanger sent to state officials last year about his compulsion for child pornography led to reviews of cases in Iowa, where he appeared as a witness.

"On the one hand, I'm sorry I've cost everybody some extra money," Belanger told the AP. "On the other hand, I have always said the work stands independent of the author. And I stand behind that."