Legal process...when acting out turns illegal

If you have read my previous posts you know that my initial discovery included finding out that my husband (boyfriend at that time) had his computers seized for suspicion of illegal images. I wanted to follow up on the process/outcome of that for others who may be going through the same thing and don't know what the process is.

From what the court papers show, the case was opened (June 2013) 4 months before the search warrant was actually served (Oct 2013) and the computer was seized. From what he has told me, he admitted to police right away. He cooperated and supplied police with email passwords used to receive materials. He also supplied the names of people involved in giving him the material. He was told they would be investigating the computer and it could take about 6 months. He immediately hired an attorney.
Within days he began attending SAA and therapy. At the advice of our therapist, he began a sex offender rehabilitation program(Jan 2014), which would be required by law if convicted.
A year later (Oct 2014) the detective contacted his attorney to say they had finished the investigation and he had an arrest warrant. Since he had been so cooperative they wanted to his attorney to schedule a time to turn himself in. This was scheduled as his preliminary hearing (where they read the charges, ask how you plead and set a bail amount). He was charged with 9 counts of possession and 1 count of distribution. He pled not guilty at that time (per the attorneys advice). Bail was set at 65,000! Since we didn't have that amount, He was arrested in court. We later went to a bail bond who let us pay half down and make payments on the rest. He was bailed out the next day.
The next step was a plea negotiation(Nov 2014). This was when the prosecution offers a plea deal. They offered to drop 7 possession and the 1 distribution in exchange for a guilty plea on only 2 of the possession charges.
The next step was a plea agreement (Dec 2014). He agreed to plead guilty to the 2 charges of possession.
After the agreement he had to undergo a psychosocial evaluation to assess his risk to re-offend. This way they could determine how he should be sentenced. He was evaluated as a low risk to re-offend and is not on a public registry, although he is a registered sex offender.
The prosecution recommended not more than 3 for both charges, however it is ultimately up to the judge. He was potentially facing 1- 6 years per charge.
The next stage was the sentencing (April 2015). The prosecution stated that he never side's with the defendant, but because of his cooperation and his devotion to recovery (including starting the sex offender program before conviction) he would recommend probation. The judge told him she doesn't take these cases lightly, but she agreed and granted probation not to exceed 3 years and he has to register a sex offender for 10 years. At this point we are 11 months into his probation.