BELLINGHAM - A transient man suspected of possessing child pornography was arrested Tuesday night, Aug. 7, after a man who bought a laptop from him discovered a file of pornographic images on the computer.

Kevin Edward Lang, 24, a transient who lists Bellingham as his place of residence, sold a laptop to a Bellingham man, who loaded his own family photos onto the hard drive and uploaded them to Facebook.

To the man's confusion, his Facebook account was then disabled, so he searched through files on the laptop to figure out why. The man found a folder that contained several images of child pornography, said Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young.

When the man called Lang and asked him about the pornography on the laptop, Lang said he was sorry and offered to meet with the man again to give him a new computer, Young said.

The man met with Lang around 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 1200 block of West Bakerview Road. Lang tried to trade the man for another computer and other items, Young said.

When the man said he also wanted police involved, Lang started to walk away. The man called police, who arrived shortly, saw the pictures on the laptop, and arrested Lang for investigation of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Young said.

Lang was also arrested for a warrant from Contra Costa County, Calif., for violating probation by failing to register as a sex offender, Young said.

Lang failed to register as a sex offender in Contra Costa County twice in February 2009, once in June 2009 and again in June 2010, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney's office. Lang is not listed in the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office sex offender registry.

The laptop and several other electronic storage devices were impounded by Bellingham police, who won't be able to search the devices until they obtain a search warrant, Young said.

Reach SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL at samantha.wohlfeil@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2264.