Former foster parent sentenced to eight months for possessing child porn

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This article was published 06/02/2018 (2859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former foster father has been sentenced to eight months in jail for possession of child pornography.

The man is not being named to protect the identities of his former foster daughters, whose complaint to police in 2013 led Manitoba RCMP to find more than 800 images of child pornography on the 53-year-old mechanic’s laptop and in his garage.

He was previously convicted on two counts of possession of child pornography for the digital photos and videos found on his computer, as well as printed photos depicting child pornography he was attempting to destroy when police arrived.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond decided the man should be sentenced on both counts from April 13 and April 14, 2013. She sentenced him to six months on one count, and eight months on the other, to be served concurrently, so he has eight months to serve in total.

“It appears (the accused) is having some difficulty acknowledging his involvement in this offence, even after the court has convicted him. When he spoke during the sentencing hearing, he said words to the effect of this is not me and this is not who I am. He will have to prove to himself and to those around him that this is true. He apparently acknowledges this and is willing to get some help. Overall, it is my view that it is unlikely that we will see (the accused) back in court again,” the judge said Tuesday.

The jail sentence will be followed by two years of probation, during which time he’ll be bound by a court-ordered condition to keep him from using the internet to access pornography of any kind, and he won’t be allowed to be around children under age 16, including relatives, unless he is with an adult who knows about his child-pornography convictions.

He was acquitted on charges of making child pornography after his then-12- and 13-year-old foster daughters accused him of setting up a camera and secretly filming them in the shower.

A judge ruled there was reasonable doubt the incident happened, but the girls’ complaint resulted in the discovery of the child-porn images. One of the photos found in the man’s garage was a topless selfie of his foster daughter.

The Crown said Tuesday they’ve been notified the man plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay