An Anchorage music teacher told the court he has struggled with an addiction to pornography since childhood.
Stuart Ravn, 26, also said he has Asperger Syndrome and apologized for his halting speech during his sentencing hearing Friday. Ravn has been convicted of 22 counts of possessing and distributing child porn.
Ravn taught music lessons to children out of his parents’ home, but investigators did not find evidence of abuse.
In court, Ravn said he tried for many years to change his behavior.
“I have a hard time living with myself, knowing that those things are in my head,” Ravn said. “As far as the so-called child erotica goes, I take responsibility for possessing and laying my eyes on those depictions as well. They are all transgressions upon young people’s moments of shame and misery.”
Ravn told the judge he felt frustrated by the justice system, because after a long struggle with his addiction, he finally sought help from a therapist who turned him in to police.
“The people that I’ve been housed with, who are charged with child pornography offense, there always seem to be a strenuously contrived story about how it came to be in their possession,” Ravn said. “I don’t have any purpose in trying to lie to the court about having these things.”
Investigators said the images Ravn downloaded from the Internet came from a sophisticated Russian child porn ring, of which Ravn was a member. Some depicted children involved in sadistic and masochistic acts. Some were only toddlers.
Ravn drew a sentence of five years and nine months, with eight years suspended and ten years probation. He could have faced two to 12 years for each of the 22 counts.
Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack Smith noted Ravn’s sentence could have been much worse if Ravn, a first-time felon, was charged with a crime for every image he downloaded or distributed.
“It’s possible to have thousands of depictions of pornography,” Smith said. “If the state chose to consider every one of them, you’d be looking at an unreasonable sentencing range.
The judge said he would require restitution in the case, which would be decided at a later hearing.
Once Ravn is released, he will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
His mother is angry about Friday’s sentence.
“He was reaching out for help,” she said. “When I think of all the individuals who do serious harm, all he did was download things on the Internet. Yes, these were abhorrent images, but it is a travesty of justice to what’s being done to this young man because he asked for help.”
Ravn’s mother said he felt so much guilt for his addiction to child pornography that he has attempted suicide.