A 45-year-old Newmarket man was sentenced to five years in jail for distributing child pornography, police said Tuesday.

Lawrence Brandridge pleaded guilty to possession, distribution and production of child pornography on June 17, a York Regional Police press release said.

On Friday, he was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to stay away from areas where kids under 16 years old are reasonably expected to be, give a DNA sample and hand over personal computers, police said.

Cops north of Toronto found child pornography on computers and media belonging to Brandridge after launching an investigation in December 2008.

He was arrested on Sept. 16, 2009 following a raid on his Newmarket home, where police found "a large number of computers and media" that were taken in for analysis, the press release said.

"York Regional Police is reminding residents that October is Child Abuse Prevention Month," the press release said. "The production and distribution of child pornography directly promotes the abuse of children. Child pornography is the victimization of children to the fullest and is a crime which has no borders."