PORTLAND – Authorities had already seized a huge collection of child pornography when they raided Jack Moore’s home in Berwick in 2008, but Moore “couldn’t restrain himself” and kept amassing explicit pictures of children until he was finally arrested in 2011, a federal judge said in handing down a seven-year prison sentence Tuesday.

Judge D. Brock Hornby called Moore’s child pornography crimes an “addiction” and labeled the content of the 10,000-plus child pornography images and dozens of videos as “sadistic.”

Moore, 52, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland in April to a single count of possession of child pornography. He was back in court Tuesday for a sentencing hearing.

The FBI searched Moore’s apartment above a garage at 113 Knox Lane in Berwick on Oct. 10, 2008, seizing a computer, cameras, discs and printed pictures of child pornography, among other things, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank in a court document.

Sometime after agents searched Moore’s home and began investigating him, Moore left his apartment with all of his belongings and moved to North Carolina, Frank said in the court filing.

Authorities finished processing the seized evidence in 2011, and got a grand jury indictment and a warrant for Moore’s arrest. FBI agents who went to arrest him in December 2011 in North Carolina found that he had continued to collect child pornography there, Frank said.

“He clearly has a significant problem that he doesn’t seem able to control,” Frank said in court Tuesday. “He returned to collecting even after he knew he was the subject of an investigation.”

Frank called Moore’s collection “extremely offensive material,” including images of prepubescent children and bondage.

He cited the written statement of one victim, saying that she has to live every day with people trading and sharing videos of her being raped when she was a little girl.

Moore’s attorney, Assistant Federal Defender J. Hilary Billings, argued for a lesser sentence, seeking a three-year prison term followed by supervised release. He said his client had done nothing aggressive, just sat at home alone at a computer, clicking a mouse.

“He looks back on what he did in disgust,” Billings said. “He needs treatment. He needs behavioral transformation and positive interaction.”

Billings said Moore had a strong work ethic in the past, holding a job in the textiles industry for more than 30 years. But at the time of the FBI investigation, Moore was struggling with addiction, depression and anxiety, and had lost his job.

“The conduct here that is fearsome and loathsome is not the entirety of who Jack Moore is,” Billings said.

Moore spoke before the judge, saying he was “truly sorry.”

Dressed in a tan prison uniform, Moore had a goatee and a mustache. He wore glasses, and the tattoos on either side of his neck and both upper arms were visible as he spoke into the microphone.

“I’m trying to make my efforts in sobriety and seek more help for depression and anxiety,” Moore said.

Hornby ordered Moore to spend eight years on supervised release after his prison term and to pay restitution of more than $22,000, to be divided in various amounts and distributed among three of the victims, to help pay for their therapy.

Hornby said child pornography is one of society’s “taboos” that people view as a sickness.

“Most people have trouble talking about it, let alone looking at it,” he said.

Moore has 14 days to appeal.

 

Staff Writer Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@mainetoday.com