Douglas Hugh Stewart returns to court in Moncton, N.B., on Oct. 28, for a sentencing hearing on possession of child pornography.Douglas Hugh Stewart returns to court in Moncton, N.B., on Oct. 28, for a sentencing hearing on possession of child pornography. (CBC)

A sentencing hearing for a Moncton, N.B., man caught with millions of images of child sexual abuse has been adjourned until October.

Provincial court heard Friday that the psychiatric evaluation for Douglas Hugh Stewart, 51, is not yet complete.

Stewart, who has pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing child pornography, had the largest collection ever found in Canada, according to the Crown prosecutor.

The Crown and defence had jointly recommended the psychiatric evaluation to help determine Stewart's risk of reoffending and assist Judge Anne Dugas-Horsman in sentencing. On Friday, Judge Pierre Arsenault sat in for Dugas-Horsman.

Crown prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock told the court she's hoping to get an expert at the Shepody Healing Centre in Dorchester, N.B., to perform the evaluation. She requested a six-week adjournment.

Stewart will return to court on Oct. 28.

Part of larger bust

Stewart was arrested March 23 as part of a police investigation into online trading of images of child sexual abuse.

Provincial court is awaiting a psychiatric evaluation to assist in sentencing.Provincial court is awaiting a psychiatric evaluation to assist in sentencing. (Kate Letterick/CBC)

RCMP say they seized millions of images of child pornography from his home computer.

Stewart was in custody awaiting trial when he changed his plea June 7 to guilty on one count of possession of child pornography. The indictable offence carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a minimum of 45 days in jail.

He was one of four people arrested in New Brunswick as part of Operation J Treasures, which began in November 2010.

Two other men and a male under the age of 18 were also arrested after search warrants were executed in Havelock, Dumfries and Grand Bay-Westfield.

The Atlantic Region Integrated Technical Crime Unit, Codiac Regional RCMP, Fredericton police, the National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre and RCMP districts throughout the province assisted in the investigation.

New Brunswick ranks third in the country when it comes to the number of Google searches for child porn.

The RCMP investigate more than 40 cases of child pornography in the province every year.

Eighty-five per cent of people who are caught possessing child pornography have no previous record, police say.