Nanaimo man sentenced for giant child porn haul & installing secret bathroom camera

The offender pleaded guilty last summer to possessing and distributing child pornography, while he also admitted to secretly recording his former partner while she showered and used the washroom of their Nanaimo home.

He was busted after a Central Saanich Police Service officer scouring online for people uploading or downloading child porn tied the offender to the IP address of his Nanaimo home in early May 2021.

The initial effort by the south Island municipal police officer turned up seven child porn videos, with online users having the ability to download the content.

An agreed statement of facts heard on Wednesday, June 14 in Nanaimo that the offender was at home on the morning of May 16, 2021 when RCMP officers armed with a search warrant came knocking on his door.

Numerous devices were seized from the home, including multiple USB drives amounting to a stunning 30,000 child porn images.

“This is a massive collection of child pornography,” the Crown’s Leanne Mascolo told the court, who noted the man cooperated with investigators and immediately took ownership of his offending.

She described the investigation and process of analyzing the material as highly labour-intensive for Nanaimo RCMP.

The family computer in a spare bedroom contained a portion of the illegal collection.

Fifty child porn videos were also seized.

Most of the egregious material featured the forced exploitation of nude young girls posing in various positions, while a minority of the content involved girls being sexually abused by adults.

Most of the victims were estimated to be between seven and 12 years old, court was told.

As the investigation evolved, Nanaimo RCMP flagged four videos recorded in the washroom of the family home in late Dec. 2020.

All of the secretly recorded videos captured the offender’s ex-wife.

“She’s not aware of the camera’s existence. She’s also seen in those videos using the bathroom, coming in and out of the shower…and Mr____is actually seen on the video setting it up in a bathroom cabinet,” Mascolo said.

A victim impact statement from the woman outlined the devastating effects the crimes had and continue to have on her and her daughter.

The offender’s lawyer, Owen James, told the court his client has long battled unresolved mental health issues, dating back to an unsupported childhood.

While he wasn’t physically or sexually abused, James said his client felt inadequate and had low self-esteem.

He viewed legal porn in his teen years to help alleviate anxiety, James told the court.

The offender turned to child porn about a decade ago during a period after his child was born, he lost his job and became more distant with his wife.

He was living in a different city at the time to receive an education in order to switch careers.

A lack of intimacy and emotional connection with his wife deepened the offender’s ties to child porn, James said in reference to a pre-sentence report and psychiatric evaluation.

“He expressed deep remorse for what happened. He knows the decision he made to access and save child pornography and to invade his partner’s privacy through voyeurism were his decisions alone.”

The offender has excelled during ongoing intensive therapy over the past two years and is gaining an understanding of insight into his offending, James noted.

No breaches were reported while the offender was released on bail over the past two years.

James said his client’s life will never be the same.

“He has seen nor spoken to his wife or his daughter since his arrest in May 2021…His relationship with them is irrevocably altered.”

A psychological assessment deemed the offender a low to moderate risk to re-offend.

During an address to the court, the offender offered a widespread apology, including to his family, friends and former employer.

“I wish I could apologize to my wife and daughter. I knew that I damaged and caused them trauma. I didn’t actually know the extent until I read the impact statement this morning. I feel terrible about the impact it’s had on them.”

He said he continues to work hard to heal and get better.

“…I am grateful that the intervention happened. I got the help I needed, I’m on the right course now — a lonely course.”

Judge Carmen Rogers believes the offender is on the path to being a productive member of society again.

“He has considerable remorse and insight into the significant impact of his crimes on, not only his wife and daughter, but on the children who were exploited in the making of the pornographic images,” judge Rogers said.

The judgment was the result of a joint sentence recommendation, with judge Rogers siding with the Crown’s two year probationary recommendation as opposed to one year from the defence.

The case is the second largest child porn bust in recent memory in Nanaimo.

In 2020 Aaron Micheil Macrae was jailed after he was busted with more than 200,000 child porn images and videos.

Significant post-release conditions

In addition to a 20-month jail sentence, two years probation will take effect once he’s released.

The day he gets out of jail 10 years of court-ordered conditions specifically assigned to sex offenders who victimize minors take effect. The decade-long orders including the inability for the offender to work in an environment where people under the age of 16 could reasonably be present.

He won’t be able to go to public spaces like parks, community centres, pools and playgrounds where people under 16 could be.

He’ll be banned from social media sites for a decade post-release.

The offender will need clearance through a separate family court process in order to potentially forge any kind of relationship with his daughter again.

Similar conditions apply to the offender for the two-year probationary term which takes effect when he’s released.

Counselling provisions are a key aspect of the probationary period.

He’ll appear on the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years and was mandated to provide a DNA sample.

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On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Nanaimo man sentenced for giant child porn haul & installing secret bathroom camera

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