PORTLAND — Authorities had already seized a huge collection of child pornography when they raided Jack Moore’s Berwick home in 2008, but Moore “couldn’t restrain himself” and kept amassing more 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 collection of more than 10,000 child pornography images and dozens of videos as sadistic.

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

The FBI had executed a search warrant at 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, Assistant U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank said in a court document.

Sometime after agents searched Moore’s home and began investigating him, Moore left his apartment with all 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 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 more child pornography there, Frank said.

Advertisement

“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,” adding that it included images of prepubescent children and some bondage. He cited one victim’s written statement for the court that she has to live every day with people trading and sharing videos of her being raped as 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 and that he had 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 struggled with sobriety, 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.

Advertisement

Moore also spoke before the judge at the hearing, saying he is truly sorry for what he had done.

Dressed in a tan prison uniform, Moore had a goatee and mustache. He wore glasses and had tattoos visible on either side of his neck on both upper arms 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.

In addition to the seven-year prison sentence, Hornby ordered that Moore spend eight years on supervised release following his prison term. He ordered Moore to pay restitution of more than $22,000 to be divided in different amounts and distributed between three of the victims to help pay for the costs of their therapy.

Moore has 14 days to file an appeal of the sentence. Billings said he will talk to Moore about whether he will file an appeal.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.