A Barrie man who was in the "upper echelon of the child porn community" has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for what the judge called "vile" child pornography.
"The court has a duty to protect children who are our most vulnerable and valuable asset," said Justice J.D. Evans. "The sentence must be sufficient to reflect society's condemnation."
James Sarsfield, 35, pleaded guilty in February to sexual assault with a weapon, three counts of sexual interference and making, possessing and distributing child pornography.
He will get credit for 18 months he has already served in pre-trial custody.
Before the sentence was handed down Friday morning in Bracebridge court, the judge gave Sarsfield the opportunity to speak.
As he started to read a statement, relatives of his victims walked out.
"I hope you gain some solace knowing I'm behind bars," Sarsfield said. "I don't expect forgiveness nor do I deserve it. I wish more than anything I could go back and change what I've done but I can't. I'm sorry."
The lead OPP investigator says the 18 year prison term is "significant" and appropriately reflects the nature of the crimes.
Det. Const. Melanie Power of the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit is a member of the victim identification team and was the officer who cracked the case.
"He (Sarsfield) was one of the upper echelon I would say in the child pornography community," Power said outside court. "There were victim identification officers all over the world working on this file. I feel very proud that we were able to identify him in such a quick response."
Power began working the file in June of 2015 when during a partnership meeting with the RCMP, she learned they were already trying to identify the victims.
The OPP officer with 21 years of service and the past six in the child pornography section, picked out a clue in the images and videos.
"It was an idea that I had that was able to localize and focus on a school to identify the eldest victim," said Power. "We observed in the background product information that helped us localize to Ontario."
Power called it her most difficult but also the best investigation because of the collaboration between the OPP and the RCMP.
"Absolutely phenomenal in identifying these victims and bringing Sarsfield to justice. I'll never forget it," she said.
The crown had been seeking a sentence of 15 to 18 years while the defence had asked for 8 to 10 years.
Sarsfield's lawyer left the courthouse and only offered a brief comment to reporters.
"I've been doing this for 40 years and this is the toughest case I've ever had," said Michael Anne MacDonald "A very difficult case and very sad."
Lead investigator Power was "very pleased" with the sentence but acknowledges their work is never done.
"It never stops and that is sad but we keep looking," said Power. "We have success stories like this that make me very proud to do the work that I do."
