Light sentence obscene

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2009 (5876 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BUT for the fact he was caught, finally, in a most heinous criminal act — possessing reams of pictures of children, as young as two, forced into sexual acts — once respected radiologist Ross Brown had remarkable luck in his tussle with the law.

Charged in 2006, the former vice-president of clinical care at St. Boniface hospital continued to work there until the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority finally figured out what the charges he was facing were.

Then, with the case in the hands of the Winnipeg Police Service until mid-2008, Brown got his biggest break of all: Investigators with the child exploitation unit simply could not handle the voluminous computer data they had to review to meet repeated deadlines for delivering evidence to the defence. Finally, threatened with the court’s dismissing the case due to delay, police handed over the results of the forensic investigation.

But by the time Brown went to a preliminary, the Crown was forced into a plea bargain to save the case, and a 45-day jail sentence, an obscenely short punishment.

It is the lingering questions, the loose ends, that best describe how lucky Brown really is — he admitted to being associated with a website that showed a 12-year-old American girl "modelling". But the FBI investigation, which triggered the Winnipeg case, closed the case last year without a charge against Brown. The girl told them a man had taken pornographic pictures of her. That man, Wilbur Caldwell, was imprisoned for child porn and a number of other men were charged with rape.Caldwell, in a deal, agreed to give evidence against Brown. Winnipeg police, insisting their delay did not jeopardize the American case, said only the FBI could explain why no charges were laid against the radiologist.

Insp. Bill Fogg called the conviction of "a person of influence" (Brown was president of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as well) "a very important moral victory." But the sentence, he added, was a real disappointment.

It falls far short of denunciation for a man who held, on three home computers, 4,935 still images of pornography involving children, photographs and 30 videos and a power point presentation containing child porn image. Brown was not charged with making or distributing child porn. At no time, Insp. Fogg said, did the unit ask for additional help to comb through the massive amount of data. Changes have been made, he said: the addition of personnel; change in management system; software to speed the cataloguing.

The affair leaves the impression that people "of influence" find a softer landing when caught by the law. And letters of support from Brown’s friends given to court reinforce the view. Former Bomber coach Cal Murphy called the criminal act an "indiscretion," completely out of character. Radiologist Ted Lyons, an Order of Canada recipient, stated he was sure Brown would become a community leader again, given the chance.

The market for child porn vanishes without people such as Brown, who damage children for life for their twisted pleasure. That some people so quickly set the fact aside to reconstruct Brown’s reputation shows there is work yet to be done to educate the community on the devastation wrought by child porn.

Ultimately, it is up to police, prosecutors and the courts to ensure that appropriate denunciation is levelled at abusers. In this case, the system failed miserably.