TAMPA, FL — The former spokesman for Florida’s child welfare agency is going to prison for more than 24 years for taking nude pictures of teenage boys.

Al Zimmerman, 41, was sentenced in federal court in Tampa Friday morning. He pleaded guilty in January to a charge of producing child pornography.

The former TV newsman was the media liaison for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

He was fired after his arrest in February 2008.

Prosecutors say he took nude photos of at least seven teenage boys for distribution to overseas pornographers. One of them has been identified as a foster child in the care of Zimmerman’s agency.