Former FIVEaa radio producer Andrew Knoller Pearce makes extraordinary confession, jailed for 14 years for child sex crimes Andrew Knoller Pearce outside the District Court in Adelaide for an earlier hearing. FORMER FIVEaa producer Andrew Knoller Pearce has made an extraordinary 11th-hour confession to child sex charges - but it has not saved him from a 14-year-jail term. This afternoon, moments before he was to be sentenced for sexually exploiting two children, Pearce asked the District Court for permission to address his now-adult victim. Pearce, who had staunchly denied any wrongdoing and was found guilty at trial, turned in the dock to face the man, saying he was deeply sorry for the hurt and trauma he had caused. "I once told you I couldn't live with myself if anything bad happened to you, but I was the bad thing that was happening to you at that time," he said. I do now apologise for that, for the trauma that you've gone through having to relive (during the trial) the crimes I inflicted upon you. There can be no excuses for what I did ... it's something for which I will be eternally sorry. Last week, an impact statement written by one of Pearce's now-adult victims was read aloud to the court. The victim said he had known Pearce "since birth" because he was a trusted family friend. The victim's father said Pearce had abused his position of trust but, as a Christian man he could not bring himself to hate Pearce. He said he achieved that only by calling on God's strength, rather than his own. In sentencing today, Judge Julie McIntyre said Pearce had committed prolonged, frequent and systematic crimes against two boys who idolised him. She said the victims and their families would live with the consequences for the rest of their lives, and praised their courage and strength. Judge McIntyre said that, while Pearce's admission of guilt was pleasing, he deserved no discount on his penalty. "It appears your future is bleak," she told Pearce. She jailed him for 14 years, with an eight-year non-parole period. Outside court, one of Pearce's victims told The Advertiser the sentence was "exactly what we were after." "The confession was unexpected and a little surprising," he said. It goes a little bit of the way to helping the pain but cannot ever cover what happened. It certainly helps me to move forward, knowing he has accepted what he has done and there's no more lies.