A well-known, well-respected Birmingham jazz musician and teacher has been sentenced to prison for possessing child porn.

Ray Reach, now 76, was initially arrested in April 2018.

The year prior to his arrest, the keyboardist, vocalist and guitarist had been recognized by AL.com as one of 30 Alabamians who changed jazz history.

A Jefferson County jury in May deliberated for less than an hour before convicting Reach on the four felony charges of possessing child porn.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace on Wednesday sentenced Reach 10 years split with two years to actually serve followed by three years of unsupervised probation.

The state asked that he be sentenced to 10 years to serve. The defense asked for probation.

Reach will be required to register as a sex offender

In the trial, prosecutors described in graphic detail the sex acts between children found on Reach’s laptop.

Deputy District Attorneys Tiffany Ould and Nick Taggart prosecuted the case. Reach was represented by attorney Herbie Brewer.

The case was investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation.

The probe began on March 11, 2014, when SBI received a tip from a technician at a local computer repair store that she had come across nude images of an underage boy on Reach’s laptop.

Investigators carried out a search warrant at Reach’s Birmingham home, seizing the laptop and other devices belonging to him

“Analysis of those devices uncovered a treasure trove of child pornography which had been carefully curated over at least a decade,” Ould said.

During the trial, the defense admitted that the images and videos in question did contain sexually explicit and graphic materials of children but claimed that the defendant did not know they were there.

The evidence, however, showed that Reach went through great efforts to disguise his collection.

He did so not only with password protected profiles, but also by hiding them in his computer under files that initially appear to be legitimate computer files.

Prosecutors said the efforts he went to showed it was in no way accidental nor done without defendant’s knowledge.

Reach took the stand in his defense, claiming that he had no knowledge that child pornography was across all of his devices.

After the earlier verdict, Reach was immediately taken into custody and booked into the Jefferson County Jail.

Ould said Reach spoke at the sentencing hearing and said he “remorseful for being associated with these heinous” images.

During his pre-sentencing investigation, she said, Reach focused much of his statement on regurgitating his resume and musical accomplishments, and most baffling, claiming he “would love to help younger student achieve musical success”.

“He emphasized that he has no touched anyone as if that was some sort of accomplishment,” Ould said. “The state noted that throughout the pendency of this case, the trial itself and after the trial, the defendant has cast blame on everyone but himself and has never taken responsibilities for his actions”

Ould said during sentencing, Reach “attempted to paint himself as a feeble old man with diabetes.”

Prosecutors argued that should not be a consideration.

“The state asked the court not to consider his age as it would be unfair to treat him differently than a younger defendant,” Ould said. “Also, based on the evidence presented at trial, Reach amassed thousands of images and video of child porn over a 10-year period while he was a senior citizen.”

“Raymond Reach is a pedophile who has an unnatural desire for children,” she said. “He is a danger to the community and should never be given access to children.”

“He is responsible for fueling the demand for these materials which included sado-masochistic torture and rape of children,” Ould said. “He is part of the problem, and he deserves to be punished as such.”

Reach is a Birmingham native and a staple in the jazz community.

According to his bio and social media, he is a former music instructor at Birmingham Southern College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At the time of his arrest, he listed his occupation as director of student jazz programs at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.