Douglas Victores Martinez was sentenced on Tuesday, March 8 after he pleaded guilty to possessing child porn. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

guilty plea

Man escapes likely deportation order following unique child pornography case

Mar 10, 2022 | 5:26 AM

NANAIMO — A high stakes sentencing hearing for a Cuban immigrant caught with a small child pornography collection resulted in a conditional discharge and two years probation.

The non-custodial result followed a guilty plea from Douglas Victores Martinez, 42, last fall, which means he likely won’t be deported to Cuba if he abides by his probation conditions.

An agreed statement of facts heard in provincial court in Nanaimo on Tuesday, March 8 outlined the unusual case in which the Crown and defence agreed Victores Martinez did not intentionally obtain 15 images of underage nude girls from Facebook group exchanges in 2019.

Defence attorney Bobak Zargarian said his client was interested in legal porn involving consenting adults, but knew there was a risk child porn could be shared.

“There is not a difference with respect to guilt, but a difference with respect to moral culpability in the case of someone who through recklessness comes into possession of images than someone who through intent is seeking out the images,” Zargarian said.

major trafficking operations

Over 130 arrested, 51 charged, drugs & weapons seized after months-long operation in Nanaimo

6h ago

B.C. championship

Nanaimo Minor Hockey U18 T1 Clippers primed for provincials

8h ago

Block Watch

Motivated neighbours launching Nanaimo's latest Block Watch

15h ago

The illegal material found on his phone via Facebook messenger included a girl estimated to be between seven and nine-years-old.

None of the material involved children being actively sexually abused by adults, which is often the prevalent in similar cases.

A complaint regarding the images was forwarded from Facebook to the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre in Ottawa, who alerted Nanaimo RCMP.

An IP address linked the illegal material to Victores Martinez, who’s married and has a two-year-old daughter.

Their house was raided on Dec. 19 2019 where police seized several devices and storage media.

A pair of psychological assessments determined Victores Martinez is a low risk to re-offend.

The assessments, which included several one-on-one therapy sessions, determined the offender has no mental health issues or pedophilia tenancies.

Victores Martinez took full accountability for his actions and displayed remorse and embarrassment.

His head was down for most of the hearing while an interpreter occasionally helped him understand the judicial process.

The offender’s wife addressed the court, emphasizing her husband is not capable of harming his daughter.

“I don’t want to see my family destroyed because he is a good husband and a good father and I trust him…he wouldn’t be capable of harming his daughter,” she said.

Judge Ronald Lamperson agreed with not issuing a jail sentence for Victores Martinez, which is a common punishment for possessing child porn.

“Because of the uniqueness of this case I find that the sentence which I have decided is appropriate is very much different than sentences I’ve imposed in the past and cases I’m aware of,” Judge Lamperson said.

The offence used to carry an automatic jail sentence of at least six months in jail, which has been struck down as unconstitutional.

While Victores Martinez could escape a criminal record in two years, he will still be classified and monitored by police detachments nation-wide for the next decade as a registered sex offender.

He was ordered to provide a DNA sample, while numerous conditions apply against him for the next two years, including heavily restricted internet usage.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes