James Lucas Young, 31, of Parksville could spend the next four months behind bars along with a lengthy probation period after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography in his Parksville home in Dec. 2022. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

unprecedented case

‘Awful, egregious:’ Parksville child porn collector phoned police to turn himself in

Jan 21, 2025 | 5:32 AM

Editors note: The following story contains descriptions of sexual crimes against children. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

NANAIMO — Jail is a distinct possibility for a Parksville man who pleaded guilty to possessing over 1,300 images and 10 videos depicting the graphic sexual abuse of children.

A joint submission suggested four months in jail followed by 30 months probation for James Lucas Young, 31, in relation to a December 2022 incident in Parksville, with Young self-reporting his crimes to police.

During a Monday, Jan. 20 sentencing hearing in provincial court in Nanaimo, Crown prosecutor Leanne Mascolo said a forensic analysis of some of the videos seized from Young’s home included images of children “between three and eight years of age, being sexually assaulted by adults.”

“The descriptions of the random samples are awful, egregious. Some of the worst types of child pornography…that the court will hear about,” the veteran prosecutor told the court.

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'Awful, egregious:' Parksville child porn collector phoned police to turn himself in

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Young phoned 9-1-1 on Dec. 27, 2022, at 3:40 a.m., saying he wanted to turn himself in, telling the operator he was hearing sirens all night and thought the police were after him.

The offender provided his name and home address to the dispatcher.

When police showed up Young told officers he was in possession of child pornography on his home computers and needed to be arrested.

He also said he had been awake for two days and was on the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

A subsequent search warrant uncovered multiple computers and electronic devices, which Young freely provided investigators access to including the passwords, where the images and videos were discovered.

Mascolo said during a psychiatric report, Young was forthright when he admitted to viewing child pornography from a young age and takes full responsibility for his crimes, saying he’s been “addicted to child pornography for the last ten years.”

“I have to say I’ve never had a case where an individual has turned himself in like this… obviously very concerning is the nature of the images. Mr. Lucas (Young) was hoping getting involved in the criminal justice system would lead to some assistance in how he can manage what he describes as his pedophilia.”

A completed psychiatric assessment deemed Young had a “high likelihood” of accessing child porn again and was considered a “low to moderate risk” of hands-on sexual offending.

Young has been on bail with strict conditions since January 2024 and pleaded guilty last spring.

In the psychiatric report, Young said he struggled with substance abuse such as alcohol, was diagnosed and takes medication for anxiety and depression, has had issues holding down a job, and faced sexual abuse as a child.

During the Monday sentencing hearing, Young thanked the court and everyone he’s interacted with since making the 911 call and turning himself in.

“The affectionate humanity that I’ve been shown since the beginning, everyone from the officers who I first encountered to my lawyer, and the Crown prosecutor, you yourself Your Honour, showed me a level of respect that you wouldn’t normally expect being to this, and I will forever be thankful for that.”

Judge Hodge decided to reserve her decision until a later date in order to review previous similar cases and sentences, with both Crown and defence attorney James Arends admitting the difficulty due to the unique nature of Young calling police on himself.

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