Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of graphic child sexual abuse.

A former substitute teacher from Nipomo who fantasized about kidnapping toddlers, and raping and torturing them before sacrificing them to Satan, was sentenced to eight years in state prison on Tuesday.

Gregory Allen Kornman, 55, was caught masturbating inside his car in a public place near Los Berros Road and Highway 101 in Nipomo on March 13, court documents said.

That incident eventually led investigators to discovering a plethora of child pornography on Kornman’s devices and his involvement in a satanic and sadistic pedophilic community.

About 3,000 videos of child sexual abuse and more than 600 images of child sexual abuse were eventually found between Kornman’s phone and computer, court documents said. He also sent child pornography at least 159 times to 68 separate accounts.

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office charged Kornman with 19 felony counts of transmission of child pornography, two felony counts of possession of child pornography and one misdemeanor count of a public lewd act. He entered an open guilty plea to all charges on Sept. 9, meaning he entered the plea without negotiating with the district attorney.

At Kornman’s sentencing on Tuesday, District Attorney Dan Dow said there was “much more material” than with which his office charged Kornman. The county’s search warrant spanned only one year before his arrest, Dow said.

“This is not a victimless crime of the mind,” Dow said. “Every single transmission of this filth revictimizes every child — every child — that was tortured and abused.”

Dow said he was “moved to tears” as he prepared his sentencing statement and that the case hit him deeper than nearly any other in his career.

According to the court documents, Kornman had been employed by the Santa Maria-Bonita Unified School District as a substitute teacher for kindergartners through middle-schoolers — an employment the District Attorney’s Office said was “troubling” given that the shocking nature of the crimes made Kornman “utterly devoid of any redeeming value.”

“He’s around young children hoping that his intended desire might come true and he can victimize a young child,” Dow said at the sentencing. “I believe that the hard work of the Sheriff’s Office prevented a very likely crime of kidnapping, rape, torture and murder.”

Man Was Part of Online ‘Satanic Pedo Brotherhood’

The child pornography found on Kornman’s devices was largely sadistic and graphic in nature and included infants still wearing diapers, toddlers and many children under 10 years old, court documents showed.

At the sentencing, Dow said that characterizing the material as child pornography “does not describe a horrific conduct and torturous abuse that countless number of children had to endure for the production of this child sexual abuse material.”

“There are children between infant and 4, 5, 6 years old,” Dow said at the sentencing. “This is not the kind of imagery that any kind of human being should have to look at, let alone be forced to endure the kind of torture that it took to create.”

Also recovered on Kornman’s devices were several concerning messages with other people who were part of a satanic pedophile community. The majority of the messages exchanged praise for and prayers to Satan, pedophilia and finding pleasure in the idea of causing extreme harm to children.

The messages were exchanged through Skype, Zoom and Teleguard, which is a secure messaging application from Switzerland.

Kornman’s name on Skype was associated with the name “PozPerv,” and his Teleguard account used the name, “NoLimitsPervPup,” a Sheriff’s Office report said.

“HAIL THE SATANIC PEDO BROTHERHOOD!” one message read.

“HAIL SATAN! HAIL METH! HAIL CHILD RAPE AND TORTURE,” Kornman wrote in another.

“I thank Father Satan every single f—ing day for designing me to be a sadistic no-limits pedo!” Kornman wrote in another that described a fantasy of kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and sacrificing a 3- to 5-year-old boy.

In one exchange, Kornman and another person describe finding pleasure in “brutal” child porn, with Kornman stating, “The cryin and screamin (is) music to my ears!”

Messages also show Kornman was talking about a plan to “pool resources” to buy a windowless van and modify it with hidden compartments so that he and the person he was messaging with could hide the children they would kidnap and victimize.

Kornman also would join video chats with the other users with whom he was exchanging messages.

“The horrific sexually sadistic conduct perpetrated against infants, toddlers and young children is of the utmost morally bankrupt and vile nature that must be severely punished to deter others from committing the same offense,” the District Attorney’s Office wrote in its sentencing brief.

Defense Attorney Asks for Probation

The maximum sentence for Kornman’s crimes was 18 years and four months, but Dow recommended at least 13 years out of leniency for Kornman’s acceptance of responsibility through his open guilty plea.

Dow told The Tribune that his office originally calculated his maximum sentence as “dozens of years,” but reduced it because of the consolidation of his charges, under which multiple transmissions of pornographic material were counted as one charge.

Defense attorney Ray Allen argued that Kornman’s “horrendous crimes” were not the only part of him as a person, noting that he was working two jobs in the community at the time of his arrest.

“He was, and will be again, a stable member of our community,” Allen said.

Allen drew a distinction between possessing child sexual abuse material and committing the act of molestation, and said that Kornman “never laid his hands on a single child.” He noted that a court evaluation of Kornman concluded there was no reason to believe that he would act on his fantasies.

Allen asked for probation, noting Kornman will pursue treatment.

Man Convicted of Child Porn Says He’s a ‘Good Man’

Before Marino sentenced Kornman, the defendant read a letter he wrote to the judge to plead his case for probation.

“Contrary what you may think, I’m a good man,” Kornman said. “I’m not the horrible monster my actions have indicated — that’s not who I really am.

“I’m hardworking, kind, loving and compassionate. I admit I made mistakes. I went down a dark path for which I am truly sorry. Saying I’m sorry doesn’t even begin to express how remorseful I am. I’m ashamed, repulsed and sickened by what I did.”

During his time in jail while awaiting his sentencing, Kornman said he began attending church and now has a Bible and daily devotional he cherishes.

“I’ve seen where my life was heading, and I’ve determined to never return,” he said.

He said at one point that he “thought it would be better if I died.”

Kornman asked for probation in order to take care of his longtime partner of 17 years, who was recently diagnosed with multiple health conditions. His family and loved ones, including his partner, were present in the courtroom, crying as he read his letter.

“I need you to know without a shadow of doubt that I will never do anything like this again,” he said.

According to a pre-sentencing report from the Probation Department, Kornman had methamphetamine, cannabis and heroin in his system at the time of his arrest, but he claimed he hadn’t used methamphetamine in six years and never used heroin.

He also had several BDSM toys in his house, including a human-sized cage and structure that locked from the outside but could not be unlocked from the inside, the report said.

He said he does not have childhood memories before he was 7 or 8 years old, which is when he began having fantasies about being kidnapped and “led him to being where he is now,” the report said.

He also claimed he was “‘trying to unlock the memories’ from his possible past” and “would never hurt a child,” the report said.

Kornman told the Probation Department that he pictured himself as the child victim when he was viewing the pornography as a way of “self-shaming” and “trying to remember his early childhood,” the report said.

Kornman told the agency he wanted to get professional help for his issues, the report said.

Man Will Likely Serve Four Years for Child Porn Transmission

Ultimately, Judge Marino sentenced Kornman to eight years, the sentence recommended by the San Luis Obispo County Probation Department. Kornman was also required to register as a lifetime sex offender, Marino ruled.

The child sexual abuse materials on Korman’s devices were “horrifying,” Marino said. “I’ve seen some terrible stuff, and this was probably the worst I’ve had to see.”

He also noted that Kornman wasn’t just consuming large quantities of this material, but actively distributing it.

“To get to this level of frankly debased material — it takes a significant effort,” he said, noting it was “certainly possible” the Sheriff’s Office prevented a crime.

After the sentencing, Dow said he did not believe a word of Kornman’s statement, calling it “self-serving” and “absurd.”

“His statement focused on himself,” Dow said, noting that Kornman said being arrested, held in jail and having his freedom taken away had been the worst experience of his life. “He was more concerned with the inconvenience to himself and did not once mention the horror inflicted on those infants and toddlers.”

Dow noted that while child porn depicts violence, transmitting or possessing it is not considered a violent crime under California law. That means Kornman will only serve half of his sentence if he has good behavior.

With Kornman already having credit for 14 months, Dow said, he will serve around three more years in state prison for his crimes.

While Dow appreciated that Marino did not sentence Kornman to probation, he found the sentence of eight years “disappointing,” especially since Marino said it was one of the worst cases he’s seen in the county.

After Marino delivered his sentence, Dow asked him to reconsider the enhancements that would’ve added another three years to his sentence, but Marino dismissed his request.

Dow said at a minimum that Kornman should have received 11 years because of enhancements found true in the first two counts, “but I believe the full 18 years would have been warranted.”

— San Luis Obispo Tribune reporter Chloe Shrager contributed to this report.