Aaron Macrae outside his sentencing hearing in Nanaimo on Thursday, Nov. 21. (CTV Vancouver Island)

By Ian Holmes

Child porn

Overwhelming child porn stash one of largest seen by Nanaimo RCMP

Nov 21, 2019 | 6:26 AM

NANAIMO — A man with no prior criminal record is being sentenced in a shocking child porn case involving more than 200,000 images and videos.

Aaron Micheil Macrae, 35, pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography between January, 2015 and April, 2018. Macrae’s sentencing hearing in provincial court in Nanaimo on Thursday, Nov. 21 outlined the alarming gravity of his longstanding obsession.

Crown Prosecutor Nick Barber said RCMP uncovered the staggering volume of child porn on 13 devices during a June, 2018 search warrant at a home in the Uplands neighbourhood.

Macrae’s collection was amassed over many years and included videos and images of young victims being sexually abused. He also secretly took videos of young female victims in public places throughout Nanaimo.

“In his job at cell phone shops (he) would interact with customers and use his phone to videotape the customers’ children in the shops. As well in public transit he would do that, while at the mall he would do that,” Barber said.

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Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Mike Baylin, who led the investigation into Macrae and his perversion, said it’s the largest amount of child pornography he or his colleagues had ever seen.

The investigation began after what appeared to be child porn uploaded onto Instagram was linked back to Macrae. Officers used many methods to find the man, including IP addresses.

The home Macrae shared with his parents on Sunrise Pl. was searched on June 20, 2018.

Macrae then ran away from Vancouver Island and was arrested six months later in Abbotsford, court was told.

The Crown requested a federal prison sentence of three-years with strict conditions specifically for sex offenders.

Barber said Macrae’s child porn habit over an estimated 10 to 20 years completely degraded and dehumanized the victims.

“Mr. Macrae has a lifetime ahead of him to try and unwire what he has done to himself. There is no doubt that he is in a mode of thought due to his actions that any contributing member of society should not have,” Barber said.

A psychiatric assessment placed Macrae as a low to moderate risk to re-offend.

However, Barber pegged Macrae as a high-risk to re-offend given his online and in-person behaviours, which weren’t discussed in the the psychiatric assessment.

Macrae, dressed in a dark sweater and blue jeans, elected not to watch video clips of disturbing material he once possessed which were shown in court. As he entered the courtroom, Macrae apologized to the mother of his 12-year-old daughter.

The clips of underage girls being abused was so repulsive several people, including reporters, left the courtroom.

At one point, Judge Ronald Lamperson said he had seen enough.

Martin Screech, Macrae’s lawyer, contended various spy style voyeurism videos shot by Macrae, in addition to many other images, were not in fact child porn. Screech agreed the material suggested his client was interested in underage girls.

The hearing will continue at a later date when Screech presents his submissions.

Macrae, a Wellington Secondary grad, is not in custody.

The maximum penalties under the Criminal Code of Canada for possessing and distributing child porn are 10 and 14 years in prison respectively.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes