Kenneth Klassen received 10 years for the sex-tourism charges and one year for importing pornography. (CBC)

Kenneth Klassen, 59, of Burnaby, B.C., was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for committing sex tourism with children and importing child pornography.

Klassen received 10 years for the sex-tourism charges and one year for importing pornography.

Prior to his sentencing in B.C. Superior Court in Vancouver, Klassen offered an apology.

"I'm sorry for what I've done with all my heart," he said.

Klassen pleaded guilty to having sex with more than a dozen underage girls in Cambodia and Colombia. He unsuccessfully challenged Canada's sex tourism law when he argued that the incidents happened in other countries where Canadian courts have no jurisdiction.

Justice Austin Cullen said he found Klassen's acts "intensive, intrusive and degrading," and that his "moral blameworthiness was high."

He also said Klassen showed "less than complete remorse," and that if his videos had not been discovered by customs officials he would not have been caught.

The investigation was triggered by the interception at Vancouver International Airport of a suspicious package of DVDs from the Philippines in 2004.

The DVDs contained video recordings of Klassen engaged in sex with numerous young females aged nine to 18. The DVDs, which were bought overseas, carried titles such as "first timer" and "child abuse."

The RCMP monitored the parcel's pickup and arrested Klassen.

Police then searched his Burnaby storage locker and found images of the man with girls.

Klassen was charged with 35 counts in 2007 under Canada's child sex tourism laws. The charges included sexual interference, sexual touching, procuring and making child pornography.

He pleaded guilty to 14 of those charges in May 2010.