Lecturer jailed for 3½ yrs for child porn images

| 07/06/2018 | 33 Comments

(CNS): Pierre Michel Pavlov Rameau (49), a former maths professor at University College of the Cayman Islands, has been jailed for three and a half years. However, the judge made it clear that were it not for the sentencing guidelines and principles relating to this particular crime, he would have liked to have doubled it, as he said it was a “bad case” for which he had struggled to find the right sentence. Rameau was charged with 12 counts of possessing indecent pictures and videos of children, representing around 1,600 images.

But these were merely sample charges, as the quantity of images the lecturer had on his various devices was so massive the police were unable to catalog them all. Across a number of laptops, his phone, various external drives and thumb drives, the judge estimated that Rameau could have had as much as 800,000 images. He was also a member of several social media child porn groups where he had access to even more indecent and depraved images.

As he handed down his ruling Thursday afternoon, Justice Greaves made it clear that he felt the number and content of the images were so terrible he should have had “the book thrown at him”, but he accepted the submissions by both the crown and the defence about the guidelines relating to the possession of indecent images of children where there is no evidence of sharing and distribution or being involved in the production of the material.

Handing Rameau five years, he also gave him the usual 33% discount for his immediate plea because, despite the overwhelming evidence, if Rameau had chosen to go to trial it would have been a very painful experience for those involved. He said it would have been particularly bad for a jury that would have had to view images that were “so gross and unpalatable it would be beyond the pale to describe them”.

When Rameau was given an opportunity to comment before the judge passed sentence, he chose to remain silent. Justice Greaves, on the other hand, had significant comment to make on the case and raised a number of major concerns about the defendant as he outlined his ruling.

“This case troubles me deeply and I have spent a considerable amount of time struggling with what I think might be an appropriate sentence,” he said as he indicated he did not think the parameters set out in the guidelines were sufficient.

He noted that Rameau had videos as well as still images that were cataloged by the police showing children, some of whom were mere toddlers, being flagrantly sexually exploited in every conceivable act with adult men and each other, where in some cases the children’s faces were visible, as was the pain they were enduring.

Justice Greaves raised his concerns that Rameau, as a professor, had been in a position of trust which he abused. The judge said he “shuddered” at the thought of the students being “exposed to such a warped mind”. Rameau, he said, was “just too dangerous to be with young people”, particularly in an education institution where he had control over the students and the “power to make them or break them”.

Laying out the sentences for each of the dozen counts, with the longest term being five years on one of the counts containing the most offensive and egregious images and videos, he made it clear he regretted the requirement to make the sentences concurrent.

He told Rameau that he considered him to be “unfit to be in these islands, unfit to be in education and unfit to be among people’s children”,  as he recommended that he be deported after completing his sentence.

The court had heard earlier that Rameau was arrested and charged before the introduction of sexual offenders orders and so could not be subject to that new tool in the criminal justice arsenal for sexual offenders.

But prosecutors said the legislature was considering making the law retrospective, and if so, the crown would return to court to seek such an order. Despite being deported, the order would remain over Rameau’s head, acting as a warning of his potential threat to children to the authorities in the United States, where he is understood to be a citizen, or to his native Haiti.

The court also heard that there is still no unit to house people convicted of sexual offences. As a result, Rameau is being held in the prison’s high security unit in a single cell for his own protection and is locked down 23 hours per day.

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Comments (33)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Can you imagine putting this monster in charge of taking phtots at a UCCI event and then having the nerve to apply for a higher up position that requires skill in judging peoples character. That is the quality of leadership that is dooming UCCI. Drain the swamp.

  2. Tuna says:

    Good job RCIP!

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Could we have more judges like Justice Greaves? He did the best he could with antiquated sentencing guidelines. Rather than solitary confinement however, this disgusting animal should be in the general population where the prisoners could get their kicks off him.
    That is the only fault I find in the outcome, bearing in mind the limitations of our legislation.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    We condem Mr Eden, cry about burglary, make war that we cannot dance on New Years Eve if it is on Sunday , put effort into having two Carnivals to dance 1/4 naked and drink to vomit but we are not outraged time and time again that child molesters get less sentences then Burglars????? The law should have been amended or changed the first time this happenend. This is not the Judges fault. A society that only offers the appearance of protection for children is ill. The crime issue is only a symptom of how sick this community is. Shame on us.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    It was hard not to vomit reading the details of this case. Rameau is a MONSTER and will rot in HELL.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Fire, penalizing, or freeze promotions of those who praised and supported Pavolv. Yeah, I know, It wont happen because they will just convince others they had nothing to do with Pavlov, or that they have it under control now with workshops. Worse yet, they will try to find a scapegoat to distract from their high salaried poor judgement.

    Better to drain the swamp now then to see this again in the future.

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  7. Amjed zureigat says:

    Should be hang not send to jail such sick man

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  8. Messenjah says:

    Ya get more time for a stick of herb ta rahtid! Only in Cayman!

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Well done to the police investigators.. couldn’t have been an easy job and I guess the images live on in the memory. You can’t train for that.

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  10. CayGuy says:

    Why didn’t the judge make this POS rot in prison and then be deported if anything left after? 3 years for this these types of creeps is a JOKE

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  11. Anonymous says:

    I guess that will learn him a lesson… To hide his collection better!
    Yep serve less than a year and then deported to add his foul depravity to the US. They always find their like-minded monsters. They are everywhere.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    PHD = porn hard drive

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  13. Anonymous says:

    UCCI and the rest of Cayman needs be more careful in who is hired.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I worked with Pavlov, and I had no suspicion that anything remotely like this was going on.

      I frankly don’t think it is possible to know this in an interview, or from references.

      If this had come to light before recruitment he would have been apprehended and acquired a police record.

      Qualifications are a different matter, especially when they were said to have been acquired during tenure at the university. Obviously those holding the reins did not exercise the proper due diligence in that case for sure.

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  14. anonymous says:

    At least unlike in the Brac,if he appeals his sentence, he is unlikely to be released on bail pending the appeal hearing – I hope!.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Section 160(1) creates an offence for a person to have any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child in his possession. The offence is an either way offence punishable on indictment with up to ten years imprisonment. This in the UK.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    In the USA- Any violation of federal child pornography law is a serious crime, and convicted offenders face severe statutory penalties. For example, a first time offender convicted of producing child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2251, face fines and a statutory minimum of 15 years to 30 years maximum in prison.

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    • I would do it myself says:

      I hate seeing and reading about this case. I hate knowing that such sick people actually exist and are among us.
      I hate pointing out that as nice as that penalty may sound he wasn’t convicted or found to be “producing” any of this material.

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  17. Resident evil says:

    Thank goodness the children that were being manipulated by him at the college were brave enough to speak out and get this sicko stopped in his tracks. 3 years sentence sounds far to lenient. Hopefully the police have enough evidence to go after his cronies that are feeding his sickness and producing their heinous online materials.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    No justice! He willl serve a year and be deported.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Old creep will be out in a year!

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Haven’t heard a peep from the church leaders about this, guess they’re too busy with their holy war on gay rights

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    • Anonymous says:

      And deciding who will be in charge of UCCI like nothing ever happended under UCCIs current religious cabal.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Pavolv attending church was the reason he got the special attention at work and high salary to buy his little red sports car.They had great expectations for a child molester. Cant make this stuff up.

  21. Anonymous says:

    3.5 years… Really? That will teach him! NOT.

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  22. West Bay Premier says:

    I am very happy that The Judge see what kind of lowlife scumbag that is , and gave him a very special cell to live in 23 hours a day for at least 2 years . Maybe he would think less of himself when he get out of prison and buy a Honda instead of a Benz .

  23. Islandboy says:

    Joke he should never be free

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Joke he should never be free again

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  25. Anonymous says:

    That sentence is an absolute disgrace!! We have seen some shockingly bad ones recently but this is the worst! The creep need to be locked up for a very long time.

    I guess children don’t matter in Cayman?

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    • Anonymous says:

      If you read the article carefully, the judge admits to be totally frustrated by the current parameters around the sentencing for these crimes. Your comment makes it seem like the judge should have given him a longer sentence. The sentencing parameters do need to be changed, but at least give credit to this judge for expressing his disgust, and for giving this animal the longest sentence he could under the law.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Do you actually think people have nuanced opinions on these issues, Cayman is is much like the rest of the world where 95% of the time the headline is all that is read, assuming these people even read the entire article that isn’t going to stop them from blaming the Judge or acting as if Cayman is fine with this type of behavior.
        You want the penal code and sentencing for these crimes changed talk to the Attorney General

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    • Anonymous says:

      The disgrace sits firmly with your legislators.

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