Church worker sentenced for child porn

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A former church organist linked to massive amounts of child porn told the judge it won’t happen again just moments before he found out he'll spend nearly eight years in prison.

Patrick Railsback, 62, stood next to his attorney in a jail issued jumpsuit as a federal judge handed down his 90-month-sentence.

Railsback music once filled Santa Fe's Saint Francis Cathedral. On Thursday, the former church organist listened to the tune of a sentence that will lock him up in prison until he's 70-years-old.

In 2008, State Police investigators served a search warrant at Railsback’s home where massive amounts of child porn were found.

Police said it started with an image of three juvenile males, naked inside a shower room, that was linked to Railsback's computer.

During the 2008 search investigators seized a number of computers, DVD's, thumb drives, and palm pilots. After combing through all of the evidence detectives found hundreds of images of child porn.

The former church worker was found guilty last year.

On Thursday federal prosecutors argued for a 17 year prison sentence saying the severity of Railsback’s crime deserves it. They first cited the more than 230 images and eight videos of small children engaging in sexual activity linked to Railsback.

Prosecutors said some kids were as young as six. They then added that in some images bondage was evident.

However, the defense fired back saying his client was not a producer or major distributor of child porn so five years in prison and sex offender treatment is enough.

Then Railsback spoke out in court saying, “…I am so sorry, regretful of my behavior. At the time I was doing it, I had no sense of the real damage on the children. I can say the chance of me doing this again is zero."

In the end, the judge said 17 years was too much but given the severity of the crime Railsback will have to spend nearly eight years locked up.

The sentence also includes 10 years of supervised probation after Railsback completes his sentence. He will also have to register as a sex offender.