Pressure is mounting for an immediate review of the foster care system to determine how a sexual predator was able to slip through the cracks.

The pressure comes after Donnie Snook, a former city councillor and foster parent, admitted to sexually assaulting and making pornographic images of boys over a 12-year span.

He pleaded guilty in May to 46 charges including sexual assault and possessing, distributing and making child pornography.

The crimes, which began in January 2001 and went on until his arrest in January of this year, involved 17 boys, most of whom were from the Saint John area and between the ages of five and 15 at the time of the offences.

The 41-year-old Saint John man addressed provincial court at his sentencing hearing on Friday, apologizing for the years of "sadness and darkness" he created in the lives of 17 young kids.

The court heard that Snook sexually abused a child placed in his care by the Department of Social Development.

He also used his role as a foster parent to abuse even more children at his Saint John home.

“Obviously, improvements are needed. Otherwise, maybe this situation wouldn’t have presented itself,” says New Brunswick Liberal MLA Victor Boudreau.

The Opposition Liberals say these facts, on top of prior warnings received about Snook, should result in an immediate review of the New Brunswick foster care system.

“I think the magnitude of this situation, the sooner the better,” says Boudreau. “This review should be conducted to make sure we don’t end up with a situation like this in the future.”

The provincial NDP agrees.

“We’ve got to do everything we can to make sure all children in the province, especially if they’re vulnerable children, be protected from abuse, especially when they come into contact with government institutions which are obviously connected to the foster care system,” says New Brunswick NDP Leader Dominic Cardy.

The province says potential foster parents go through a thorough application process, adding that the Department of Social Development regularly reviews and updates those procedures.

Neither Premier David Alward nor the minister of social development would agree to an interview about the matter on Wednesday.

When last asked about a potential review, Alward said he would not be making any comment until Snook’s sentencing had concluded.

Snook is due back in court for sentencing on Oct. 10.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore