Bombers to discuss removing Brown from hall of fame

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This article was published 03/09/2009 (6216 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The board of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will discuss at its next meeting whether former team president Ross Brown should be removed from the team’s hall of fame following his incarceration for child porn possession, a team spokesman said today.

Ross Brown, 72, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

Brown admitted to possessing almost 5,000 pornographic photos involving children as young as two engaged in explicit sex acts, including bondage and bestiality.

Team spokesman Darren Cameron said the Bomber board will discuss the Brown matter at its next meeting, which has not been scheduled.

At his sentencing, court was told Brown also had 30 videos and a PowerPoint presentation on child pornography on two home computers.

Crown attorney Tony Kavanagh also told court that Brown may have walked free had they not agreed to a 45-day jail sentence and three years of pro­bation. The prosecutor said Brown likely had a strong argument that his Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated by a nearly three-year delay in disclosing evidence and getting the case ready for court.

On Thursday Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Bill Fogg said police accepted the blame.

“We failed to deliver on our own timeline on a couple of occasions and that did put the case in jeopardy,” Fogg said. “It was simply a matter of us, I think, believing we could process this work faster than we were able to do it.”

Fogg said officers were confronted with a massive amount of material than had to be pulled off computer hard drives.

Police have now put new measures, including new software into place so similar delays are not repeated.