Crown counsel Kent Saliwonchyk urged Justice Mary Teresa Devlin to sentence Mr. Pike, a former grade school teacher, to 14 years, arguing the stiff sentence is warranted for the abuse he perpetrated on several young boys.

"It's my position that Mr. Pike represents a danger to society," Mr. Saliwonchyk said during an ongoing sentencing hearing for the 35-year-old Mr. Pike, who pleaded guilty in May to eight counts of sexual interference as well as making and possessing child pornography.

During his submissions in an Oshawa courtroom the prosecutor pointed to what he characterized as Mr. Pike's lack of insight into his offences, including a letter Mr. Pike wrote to the court in which he called the assaults on young boys "mistakes."

"This is not a mistake," Mr. Saliwonchyk said. "You don't set up a video camera and get 13 hours of yourself having sex with children and call it a mistake.

"This is monstrous."

Mr. Pike was a Grade 5 teacher at Glen Street Public School in south Oshawa in July 2005 when he was arrested for sexually assaulting two young brothers whose parents he had befriended. A police search of the man's Bowmanville home turned up DVDs that depict Mr. Pike committing sex acts on young boys who appear to be asleep.

Five of the victims were identified; others in the videos were not and Mr. Pike has refused to help Durham police identify them, Mr. Saliwonchyk said.

Other items gathered at Mr. Pike's home, including pictures of him posing with young boys while camping or in his capacity as a cruise ship recreation director, are evidence of a lifetime of predatory behaviour toward children, the Crown said.

Following his arrest Mr. Pike was dismissed by the Durham school board. The Ontario College of Teachers has scheduled a hearing July 8 to have his teaching licence revoked, court heard.

No allegations of sexual abuse have come from children Mr. Pike taught.

Justice Devlin reserved her ruling on a sentence.