Shane Maclennan (left) and his father Murray Maclennan during a break in their sentencing hearing. The Port Alice men were convicted of possessing child porn while they lived in Parksville. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

child porn

Father & son sentenced in bizarre and ‘despicable’ child porn case

Dec 20, 2019 | 8:19 AM

NANAIMO — A father-son duo have been convicted in a disturbing and unusual child porn case, which included sexual abuse of young children.

Murray Maclennan, 67, and his son Shane Maclennan, 42, pleaded guilty to one count each of child porn possession. Their Parksville home was raided by police on Feb. 15, 2016 and they were arrested on site.

A substantial volume of child porn on numerous computers and hard drives were recovered, with most of the disturbing material collected by Shane, court was told. The material seized was acquired over a span of roughly two years and four months.

Charges weren’t laid until May 14, 2018 due to a damaged hard drive which needed to be processed.

During a joint submission Wednesday, Dec. 18 in Nanaimo, Crown prosecutor Ken Paziuk outlined various graphic videos and images belonging to the pair. Some of the abuse involved boys and girls between the ages of roughly one and 14-years-old.

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The Maclennans sat still and displayed no emotion while the alarming facts were detailed for Judge Calvin Struyk.

Murray was given a 90-day intermittent jail sentence to be served on weekends and two-and-a-half years probation. Shane, who has cognitive deficits, was issued a 12-month non-custodial sentence and two years probation.

Both men will appear on the National Sex Offender registry for 10-years and must submit DNA samples.

The maximum sentence for possession of child pornography under the Criminal Code of Canada is 10 years in prison.

Very little insight into Murray Maclennan’s background was provided to offer context for his offending, which frustrated Judge Struyk.

Murray’s lawyer Dale Melville clouded the issue by saying his client’s behaviour would be best revealed through future counselling and not in the court room.

Babak Zargarian, Shane Maclennan’s lawyer, said his client suffered two serious brain injuries as a teen, didn’t finish high school, has no appreciable employment and experiences severe social anxiety.

Zargarian said Shane was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder and his decision-making is impaired.

“He lacks the cognitive ability and judgment calls to truly understand the nature of his activity,” Zagarian said, who noted Shane relies heavily on his father to function on a day-to-day basis.

Zargarian said Shane Maclennan is remorseful and embarrassed by his behaviour.

The Maclennans now live alone in Port Alice, a small community on northern Vancouver Island.

Court was told they have obeyed strict bail conditions since May, 2018.

Those provisions included staying away from people under 16-years-old and not possessing a device which could connect to the internet.

Their probation includes many of the same terms, with additional tailored counselling for sex offenders.

Murray Maclennan will serve his 90-day weekend jail sentence at the Port Hardy RCMP detachment beginning Friday, Dec 20.

They have no prior convictions.

Judge Struyk described his disgust for the actions of the accused.

“I simply describe it as despicable, exploitative, outrageous, demeaning activities that were deliberately filmed or photographed,” Judge Struyk said.

Court was told the sentences handed to the pair are comparable to other similar cases. Shane’s lawyer Zargarian said sending his client to jail would amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The Maclennans case was slated for a five-day B.C. Supreme Court trial, however they opted to plead guilty.

They refused to comment to NanaimoNewsNOW during a break in their trial and avoided having their pictures taken.

2019 saw several disturbing high-profile convictions in Nanaimo court involving the sexual exploitation of children.

Several more similar cases are expected to be revealed in the coming months at the Nanaimo court house.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes