B.C. man sentenced to 13 months for 'horrific' collection of child pornography
A Vancouver Island man has been sentenced to 13 months in jail after he was caught with what a B.C. court judge described as a "horrific" and "sadistic" collection of child pornography.
The images and videos numbered in the hundreds of thousands, spread across six electronic devices.
The 66-year-old man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, came to the attention of authorities in 2021 after technology giant Microsoft alerted the U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children that a Microsoft user had uploaded an image that appeared to be child pornography.
In October of that year, police searched the man's home and recovered a trove of "graphic, explicit and disturbing depictions of sexual abuse and sexual assault" involving children as young as five years old, wrote Judge Barbara Flewelling in her sentencing decision.
The perpetrator, a retired father of two with no significant criminal history, "initially believed that watching child pornography was a victimless crime and that it was not real, 'like fiction,'" Flewelling wrote.
"He told his wife that saving all the child pornography was a game and that he initially viewed child pornography by accident. He told his wife he knew it was wrong."
A psychological assessment determined the man is of low to moderate risk to reoffend if he remains engaged in a sex offender treatment program that he enrolled in last June.
"He has developed some insight into the harm that child pornography perpetuates against children," the judge wrote. "He has remorse which he expressed to his wife and to this court at the conclusion of the sentence hearing."
However, the judge cited as aggravating factors the size and of the man's collection and the severity of the images it contained, some of which she described as "sadistic."
"These are horrific videos and images," the judge wrote.
"The makers and distributors of child pornography are in business because they have customers like [him]," she continued.
"The internet has provided an easy way to publish these horrific videos and images and spread them across the globe. It is difficult to investigate, track and find the vast network of those who produce, publish and consume these depictions of the worst sort of child abuse."
The judge sentenced the man to two years of probation following his release from Ford Mountain Correctional Centre in Chilliwack, B.C.
Conditions of his release include that he report in person to his probation officer in Campbell River and have no contact or communication with anyone under 16 years old.
He must also remain on the sex offender registry for 20 years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.