‘It is the ultimate kind of victimization.’ Judge lectures Macon man found with child porn.

The judge flipped through one, two, three images of child pornography.

That was enough, he said, no more.

There were 33 or so other photos to look at, but Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Z. Simms averted his eyes.

Steven Charles Vanbibber, 40, pleaded guilty to 36 counts of sexual exploitation of children. He had three dozen images of child porn stored in a cellphone.

Judge Simms could not hide his disgust, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

In April 2016, Macon authorities were tipped off by someone who knew Vanbibber, claiming that he may have tried to molest a girl. Investigators seized Vanbibber’s computers and phone, finding what prosecutors have described as pornographic pictures of “prepubescent children, mostly toddlers and younger.”

Vanbibber was living in eastern Bibb County and had a job in maintenance at Middle Georgia Regional Airport. He has also lived in Florida.

He told the judge on Monday that he understood the reason he was in trouble.

“Your honor, whatever your judgment is, I will of course abide by, accept and do,” Vanbibber said.

Simms then launched into five-minute lecture. Vanbibber stood still as the judge spoke of his “repulsive proclivities.”

“It is reflective of an industry — and that’s really the only word that describes it,” Simms said. “Because it is reflective of an industry that caters specifically to deviant and dangerous sexual proclivities of a small number of individuals, of which you are one.”

Simms went on: “It is the ultimate kind of victimization, because every time that one of you shares one of those photographs with another one of you, you victimize that child again. It becomes perpetual. Not only is that victimization, it’s outright abuse. Because somewhere those acts depicted in those photographs, which are incredibly disgusting and vile, were performed on a living, breathing child. And that floats your boat.”

The judge paused while a sheriff’s deputy handcuffed Vanbibber.

Then Simms added: “That makes me angry, because if it weren’t for people who wanted to look at those pictures, nobody would take them. So when you go to bed at night in the penitentiary, I want you to think about that.”

This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 3:48 PM.