A Cambridge man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young girl in Jamaica and has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Stanley Saunders, 54, pleaded guilty to sexual interference and making child pornography in a Kitchener courtroom Monday. He was also sentenced Monday.

The case marked the first time someone in Waterloo region had been charged under the child sex tourism law, which came into effect in 1997. The law states that Canadians and permanent residents can be prosecuted in Canada for crimes committed in other countries.

Crown attorney Mark Poland told CBC News in an e-mail the outcome of the case "sends a message that no person should think that they can put themselves beyond the reach of our law by using the economic and other advantages of Canadian citizenship to travel the world seeking to exploit children."

"The Attorney General of Ontario has shown his willingness to use our criminal law to protect children both at home, and abroad from sexual predators," Poland wrote.

Previous child porn conviction

Saunders had previously pleaded guilty to possession child pornography in December 2009 after he uploaded child sex abuse images to the website Flickr, an agreed statement of facts presented in court said.

At the time, Det. Jason Harth with Waterloo Regional Police examined images collected from electronic devices seized from Saunders and found unique images he believed showed Saunders abusing a prepubescent child.

No person should think that they can put themselves beyond the reach of our law by using the economic and other advantages of Canadian citizenship to travel the world seeking to exploit children. - Crown attorney Mark Poland

Harth knew the photos were of Saunders because of distinctive tattoos. Saunders had the words "Your Name" tattooed on the end of his penis, which the girl used to identify him. He also had a tattoo of a genie on his left forearm.

Harth also learned Saunders frequently travelled to Jamaica in the winter and uncovered Yahoo chat logs where Saunders revealed he had a "long standing sexual interest and exploitation of young children while travelling to Jamaica," the statement said.

Saunders was not charged in 2009 with making child porn.

Girl identified by police

Over the course of the next seven years, police tried to locate the child in the photos.

Det. Sandor Illes took over the case in July 2015 and he was able to identity a teenage girl, identified in court documents at D.A., who was the victim in the photos.

D.A., the court learned, is a Jamaican citizen who lives with her mother and two nephews "in severe poverty," the statement of facts said.

The girl told police Saunders was a friend of the family and he would take her to the residence he used in Jamaica. She told police he performed a number of sexual acts on her and she recalled one time when he held a "silver object" above her head, believed by police to be a camera.

She identified Saunders by recalling his tattoos.

In February 2016, police learned Saunders had returned to Jamaica. He was arrested at a home in Whitehouse, Jamaica, in the western part of the country about 165 km west of Kingston, on Feb. 12 and extradited to Canada on March 2. He has been in custody since then.

'Tenacious' work by police

Poland credited the police for their "tenacious" and hard work on the case.

"This police investigation was first rate, and the Waterloo Regional Police Services and Det. Sandor Illes should really be commended for their efforts in this case."

Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin tweeted he was "very proud" of the investigative team.