Teen sentenced to probation for child porn possession

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This article was published 14/07/2020 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen arrested in possession of a cache of violent child pornography, himself a target of online sex predators, has been spared jail.

“He was a victim before he committed this offence,” said provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine of the now-17-year-old accused in a written decision released last month. “I cannot overlook the precursor to his involvement in the offence as the victim of child luring.”

The teen was sentenced to two years probation.

Prosecutors had recommended the boy, who pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography, and had no prior record, be sentenced to six months custody and community supervision.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service internet child exploitation (ICE) unit, responding to a tip, executed a search warrant at a Winnipeg home in May 2019. Officers seized computers and electronic devices, ultimately found to contain 117 videos and 248 images of child sexual abuse.

The boy, who was the only person home at the time the search warrant was executed, admitted his involvement, telling police that people he met online had sent him the abuse material.

Devine said the material, which documented the abuse of infants and children up to the age of 12, fell on the “most severe” end of the scale for child pornography.

“The videos are real-life films of babies and young children being abused, assaulted, degraded and hurt in the most obscene and evil ways by adults,” Devine said.

Court heard the boy was bullied and socially isolated when, at 14, he started staying home from school while his parents were at work. At 15, he started having chats online with adult sex predators, who convinced the teen to send pictures of himself naked and engaged in sex acts.

It was during this period one online connection sent the boy a series of child sex abuse videos and images.

A pre-sentence report prepared for court found the teen showed no real insight into his actions, but was a low risk to reoffend and a good candidate for community supervision.

“The main mitigating factor is (his) guilty plea,” Devine said. “He has accepted full responsibility. Although it is apparent he was first the victim of child luring on the internet, he did not attempt to blame someone else for his offending.”

Devine said she was satisfied a probationary sentence with requirements he complete sex offender counselling and other therapy, as well as 240 hours of community service work, was sufficient to hold the youth accountable for his crimes while at the same time promoting his rehabilitation.

“Although treatment and rehabilitative services are usually available in custody, the negative influences of other youths with a history of offending and the fact that the youth’s problems cannot be addressed in their own environment… result in it being more difficult to rehabilitate youths in custody,” Devine said. “This is even more so during COVID-19 (pandemic restrictions).”

The youth’s probation order includes conditions he possess no more than one cellphone and computer, and have no contact with children under 14, unless accompanied by an adult.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca