Denver preschool teacher sentenced for child porn

DENVER, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A former teacher at an elite Colorado preschool was sentenced to eight years in prison for the 800,000 images of child pornography he amassed on the Internet.

Davie Moe, 46, was a teacher at Paddington Station preschool in Denver for 18 years. During that time he kept a more than 800-page diary recounting his physical interactions with his young charges including hugs, kisses and tickling young girls.

Moe was remorseful at his sentencing, saying he never acted inappropriately with his young students, The Denver Post said Monday.

"I never acted out what I viewed on my computer," he said.

He went on to apologize for what he once thought was a "victimless" crime -- collecting child pornography.

"I thought it was OK because I didn't know the [children depicted], and it was a trauma that had already occurred," he said. "[But] I hurt those children, and to them I would like to say I am deeply sorry."

U.S. District Judge William Martinez gave Moe a shorter prison sentence than the 17 1/2 years prosecutors sought, based in part on reports from mental health experts who said Moe's remorse was genuine, it was unlikely he ever actually molested a child at the school and that he was unlikely to reoffend.