SAN DIEGO (AP) – A former child counsellor was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in an international child pornography ring in a case the judge called the “most horrible” of her legal career.

“You are the most despicable individual I have come across,” San Diego Superior Court Judge Gale E Kaneshiro told Paul Gordon Whitmore as she sentenced him Thursday.

Kaneshiro noted that during the trial, Whitmore appeared to smile when jurors were shown videos and photos of children in sexual poses.

Whitmore, 47, was convicted November 30 of 51 felony charges, including child molestation and child pornography with special allegations that included bondage and sodomy.

The charges involved seven victims, some of them mentally impaired. None were students at the Stein Education Centre where Whitmore worked as a counsellor, authorities said.

The case began in 2002 with an anonymous tip to a Swedish child-welfare organisation, which led to the arrest of 25 men in the United States, said Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort. Forty-five children were victimised, including 37 US children ranging in age from two to about 14, authorities have said.

Whitmore was one of the most active members of the ring, Dort said.