BANGOR – A local man serving 10 years at the Maine State Prison in Warren for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl in 2006 was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 10 additional years in federal prison for downloading child pornography.

Armin William Sabky, 29, will not begin serving his federal sentence until after he has completed his state sentence.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced Sabky to the 10-year maximum and linked the man’s sexual abuse of the child to his viewing of more than 6,000 images and 40 videos of child pornography. Some of the videos showed prepubescent girls engaged in sexual conduct with adult males, the judge said.

“This was far and away the most voluminous collection of child pornography I’ve seen in my five years on the bench,” Woodcock said. “I am sentencing you to the entire 10 years and making it consecutive because I really have no choice but to conclude that you represent a real threat to young girls.

“In other cases, there often are questions about the link between the defendant’s viewing of child pornography and whether the defendant poses a danger to children,” the judge said. “Here we don’t have to guess. You’ve demonstrated that you not only are interested in viewing child pornography but you are capable of acting on those impulses.”

The child pornography was discovered on Sabky’s computer and his girlfriend’s laptop as part of the investigation into his sexual assault on the child.

Sabky was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury on Feb. 5, 2007, for gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and visual sexual aggression against a child.

In a plea agreement with the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office, he pleaded guilty later that month to gross sexual assault, a Class A crime that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in state prison. The other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with all but 10 suspended and eight years of probation.

Sabky waived indictment and pleaded guilty in federal court in Bangor to unlawful possession of child pornography in October 2007, one year after he abused the child, who was the daughter of a friend. Also Wednesday, Woodcock sentenced Sabky to 15 years of supervised release concurrent with his state probation term.

If Sabky had been convicted of sexually abusing the child before he was charged with downloading child pornography, he would have faced a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

Sabky, who was born in New Jersey but raised in Bangor by his maternal grandparents, asked that he be sent to a federal prison that offers sex offender treatment. Similar treatment is not available in the state prison system.

Dressed in orange prison clothes, Sabky showed no emotion when he was sentenced.

The mother of the girl Sabky assaulted attended the sentencing but did not address the judge. Instead, she sent Woodcock a victim impact statement on behalf of her daughter that the judge said he considered in imposing sentence.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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