SF political consultant to be jailed 6 months for child porn

Enrique Pearce walks into court Friday alongside attorney, Sam O'Keefe. Enrique Pearce walks into court Friday alongside attorney, Sam O'Keefe. Photo: Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle / / Photo: Sarah Ravani / The Chronicle / / Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close SF political consultant to be jailed 6 months for child porn 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

High-profile San Francisco political consultant Enrique Pearce — who pleaded guilty to possessing more than 600 child pornography images, some portraying sexual sadism and masochism — was sentenced to six months in county jail Friday after the sheriff’s office denied his request for house arrest.

Pearce, 42, who once held lucrative contracts with Mayor Ed Lee and other San Francisco politicians, sat expressionless next to his lawyers as Judge Rene Navarro handed down his sentence in San Francisco Superior Court.

Neither Pearce nor his attorneys commented to reporters as they left court. Pearce was ordered to surrender Tuesday to begin serving his sentence.

Additionally, he was ordered to serve two days in county jail for driving under the influence, to which he also pleaded guilty.

Once he’s released from jail, he must register as a lifetime sex offender and serve five years’ probation.

Three women representing the child advocacy organization Partners in Prevention sat silently in court as Pearce was sentenced.

Patty Schimek, a volunteer for the organization, said outside court that she would have preferred a state prison sentence for Pearce.

“I think it’s very light. This is not a victimless crime,” she said. “We know these images are out there forever.”

Prosecutors had initially sought a state prison term, then fought to prevent Pearce from serving the sentence at his home.

Pearce had pleaded guilty in December to two counts of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography among other charges, with the expectation he could serve a six-month sentence under home detention.

That plea deal was struck down by Sheriff Vicki Hennessy in March. The Sheriff’s Department, which has the final say on where inmates serve sentences, said sex offenders do not qualify for the home detention program.

Hennessy’s decision led Pearce’s attorney, Douglas Horngrad, to hold off the sentencing and weigh options, which included withdrawing the guilty plea and going to trial.

Pearce’s McAllister Street apartment in the Tenderloin was raided in May 2015, when authorities confiscated devices with photos and videos of boys as young as infants being held down and raped. More than 600 images showed minors engaged in sexual conduct, Deputy District Attorney Alexis Fasteau said.

The political career of Pearce, a lawyer when the investigation began, quickly ended after his arrest. A $5,000-a-month consulting contract between Pearce’s Left Coast Communications and Lee’s re-election campaign was terminated soon after he was taken into custody.

The investigation began after a man reported an online chat in which a user tracked to Pearce’s computer wrote that the idea of “sharing a boy with another man is really hot,” used phrases like “do you perv?” and asked whether he was “lookin to explore 8-12,” according to Sgt. Candiece Lewis of the police special victims unit.

Pearce’s phone also held more than 100 images of children unaware they were being photographed at spots throughout the city, Fasteau said.

Sarah Ravani and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani, @JennaJourno