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Meadow Lake man convicted of child porn charges sentenced to 5 years

Jan 5, 2018 | 11:00 AM

A 25-year-old Meadow Lake man was sentenced to five years in jail for charges that include child luring, sexual interference and making child pornography during his appearance at Court of Queen’s Bench in Battleford, Thursday. 

He has already completed the equivalent of 2.4 years in custody, so he has 2.6 more years time to serve for the balance of the sentence.

There is a publication ban on the name of the man sentenced to protect the identities of the victims.

Justice Richard Danyliuk accepted a joint submission from Crown Prosecutor Andrew Clements and Defence lawyer Lori Johnstone-Clarke.

In giving his sentence, Danyliuk said the offences are akin to human trafficking and “cannot be sanctioned.” 

Danyliuk stressed that once child pornographic images are distributed “they are out there in perpetuity,” adding it’s horrible for a child to have their dignity taken away from them at a young age. 

The judge told the accused he will have to “make a major shift in your thinking.”  

The court received samples of images and video files in the case presented as evidence by the RCMP.

The accused’s offences involved two girls under the age of 14 for offences in Saskatchewan and the U.S.

In the agreed statement of facts, the accused was said to have asked and received sexually explicit pictures and videos of a child in the U.S., using the computer application Kik. He also was said to have asked and received sexually explicit pictures of a child in Saskatchewan. He also videotaped himself having sex with the Saskatchewan minor and he confirmed he sent this video to the minor in the U.S. he had been communicating with.  

Clements said the accused’s offences, spanned several years, from 2012 to 2016, and involved both Saskatchewan and the U.S. police, and the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE).

When the accused was arrested April 7, 2016, police seized a number of computer devices from his residence that were locked at the time. The accused unlocked some of the devices for the police investigation.

Among the mitigating factors were the accused has no prior criminal record. The Gladue court decision also played a factor in the case as the accused is Indigenous.

Johnstone-Clarke said the accused knew what he did was wrong, after the offences happened however.

She also pointed to the aftermath of the residential school system is also a factor.  

In the accused’s defence, Johnstone-Clarke said the accused “acknowledges he needs to change.”

She described him as a naive, quiet and kind individual.

Johnstone-Clarke recommended he serve his sentence at a First Nation healing lodge.

The judge, however, said Correctional Service Canada will need to determine where the accused serves his sentence.

Most of all, he said the accused needs to complete counselling and programming for sexual offenders.

When addressing the court, the accused only said he apologizes for his actions, and appeared to dab tears from his eyes with a tissue as he returned to his seat.

Charges

The sentence for the full breakdown of charges to which the accused pleaded guilty for offences from 2012 to 2016 are as follows:

For offences occurring on or between Aug. 25 to 27, 2015, he received one year in custody for luring a child; one year in custody concurrent for making sexually explicit material available to a child; and one year concurrent for possession of child pornography. 

He was also sentenced to one year concurrent for, via telecommunications (computer devices), communicating with a person under the age of 16 years for the purpose of facilitating an offence involving child pornography, from on or between July 18, 2015 and Feb. 6, 2016; three years consecutive for sexual interference – touching a person under the age of 16 for a sexual purposes, from on or between Aug. 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2014; one year consecutive for, via telecommunications, communicating with a person who is believed to be under the age of 18 for the purpose of facilitating an offence involving child pornography, from on or about Jan. 21, 2016.

The accused also must provide a DNA sample and his name will be added the National Sex Offenders Registry. The accused is also prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years.   

The Crown stayed the remainder of the charges.

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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