He took them to McDonald's and Canada's Wonderland. He gave them marijuana to smoke. He earned a reputation for being "cool" because he bought them alcohol and cigarettes.

One girl even thought he had a good heart – if you got past his appetite for sex with children. Another said he told her he loved her, and promised that each incident of abuse was the last.

Over 14 years, Michael Ross Stratton befriended the daughters of acquaintances, friends and visitors to his Whitby home, then sexually abused them. His video camera was never far away.

Yesterday, with his legs in chains and wavy hair in a ponytail, Stratton, 41, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual abuse and child pornography. The details of his crimes involving nine victims, aged about 6 to 17, were read from an agreed statement of facts in Whitby court.

Three of his victims, now adults, wiped their eyes with tissues during the daylong hearing in the Ontario Court of Justice. Stratton, who appeared in court clean-shaven and wearing a blue sweater, targeted girls for oral sex, fondling and in at least one case, sexual intercourse.

Sixty videotapes seized by police after his arrest in June 2006 contained 25 hours of abuse. Police also found more than 2,000 images of child pornography on his computer.

Some of the assaults took place while the children were sleeping. If they woke up, Stratton would convince them that what he was doing was okay, or threaten them not to tell anyone, according to the facts read by Crown attorney Kent Saliwonchyk.

The stocky elevator company mechanic sometimes used bribery or rewards for letting him do what he wanted to, but the rewards didn't always materialize, Saliwonchyk said.

Stratton's youngest victim, believed to be about 6 in the videotape of her abuse in 2001, still has not been identified.

The assaults happened between 1992 and 2006 in the semi-detached bungalow on Rosedale Dr. in Whitby where Stratton lived until his arrest. He was in a common-law relationship until 1991 and has a son.

Seasoned Durham Region police investigators called it the worst case of child exploitation they had seen. One officer was taken off the investigation when he became ill after viewing the videotapes depicting children being sexually abused, a detective said at the time.

The situation came to light when police were investigating the case of a distraught young woman who was threatening suicide in Ajax.

She told them Stratton had abused her for three years after befriending her when she was kicked out of her own home, according to the summary of facts.

In many cases, victims were abused numerous times over several years. Stratton originally faced 285 charges, including sexual assault, making child pornography and forcible confinement. But charges were grouped together for each victim to make the case more "manageable," Saliwonchyk told Justice Paul Bellefontaine.

One victim, who was abused over eight years, told police Stratton "had a weird side" and enjoyed drugs and pornography.

She tried to get him to go for counselling but he refused to return after one session.

Another girl said Stratton kept a video camera on the wall unit beside his bed.

He sometimes taped himself during incidents.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The teenager whom he professed to love endured a few years of different forms of sexual abuse, constantly hoping it would end.

"It was always supposed to stop after the next birthday or Christmas or New Year's, but it didn't," Saliwonchyk said.

The case continues today.