A convicted child sex offender will spend nearly a decade behind bars.

James Piche, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison on Tuesday in provincial court.

His victims and their families were in attendance as Judge Lloyd Dean gave the verdict.

"Pray upon innocent children and you will pay the price," says Dean.

Piche has already served 18-months worth of jail time in pre-trial.

Piche was first arrested in September of 2014, in conjunction with a province-wide internet child exploitation bust.

Police found 10,000 images of child pornography on his home computer and more than 800 videos. Investigators say they identified three local victims.

"As I viewed the images and videos, so much outrage, anger and disgust filled my heart," said Dean in court.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Craig, says this is a sentence her client was prepared for.

“From the beginning we've been working on a resolution,” says Craig. “Of course he is very remorseful and he wants to get help and he doesn't want to suffer any more either.”

Piche’s sentence also involves several conditions. He cannot have contact with any victims or their families, he is on the sex offenders list for life, and is banned from parks or daycare centres unless a parent or guardian of a child under 16 is present.