Sex offender who exploited his own nieces gets one-year jail sentence

Crown counsel’s Jordan Hauschildt entered an agreed statement of facts into the record after the offender pleaded guilty

The father of two was first flagged by officials with social platform Twitter, now known as X, in late March 2022.

Several images confirmed to be uploaded by the offender to an unknown Twitter user involved sexually explicit pictures of girls estimated to be between eight and 14-years-old.

Sexually charged commentary from the offender about performing sex acts on minors was conveyed.

Several family pictures of three nieces were sent by the offender, accompanied by statements reinforcing his clear sexual desires for minors.

None of the family pictures met the definition of child pornography, court was told.

Armed with the disturbing content and potential threat posed, RCMP were granted a search warrant in a community NanaimoNewsNOW is withholding to ensure the privacy of the victims.

On April 21, 2022, Mounties went to the offender’s home.

Several illegal images of minors were extracted from his phone, including young girls being graphically sexually abused.

The offender told police he wanted to kill himself.

His three nieces were interviewed by police the same day, all reporting there were no incidents of hands-on offending, nor did they feel unsafe around him.

He was released from police custody with numerous conditions and then left the community to re-locate to Nanaimo in the spring of 2022.

The offender entered a relationship with a woman in Nanaimo, who had a 14-year-old daughter, a direct breach of one of his release conditions.

No inappropriate contact with the girl was reported following an interview with Nanaimo RCMP.

Aided by the U.S. based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children which assisted in the initial investigation, the offender was detected to have multiple child porn images while living in the Harbour City.

On May 8, 2023, RCMP used a search warrant to raid a Nanaimo home.

A data extraction from the phone uncovered dozens of pictures and videos of illegal material, including young children being graphically sexually abused.

The search also revealed over 500 pictures of young females in bathing suits.

While those images didn’t meet the threshold of child pornography, they were interpreted by Hauschildt as “aggravating and concerning in the context of the other images.”

The offender had no prior criminal record.

In a sworn statement to Nanaimo RCMP the offender took responsibility for his actions.

“I don’t know if it’s an obsession…I don’t know what it is, but I feel like there is something wrong,” he told Nanaimo RCMP investigators.

The Crown’s Hauschildt noted the offender said he’s addicted to masturbating and goes down a “rabbit hole” when he’s online.

“He also repeatedly told police that no one hates more than he hates himself. He told police that he cannot afford help or counselling. He told police that he thinks there’s something wrong in his head and it makes him feel crazy.”

Victim impact
The mother of the three nieces exploited by the offender wrote an impassioned letter to the court, saying their family didn’t sleep for days following the revelations of their once trusted family member.

“Every day is a struggle, and I wish that I had the tools to help myself and my daughters move on. I try and try to rebuild the magical life that we had, but I fear that we may never get it back. He took it all from us.”

She wrote the offender is no longer a safe person and would never be part of their lives again.

The woman recounted a phone conversation she had with the offender’s now ex-wife when their lives were blowing up.

“The despair in her voice, the screams and cries that I heard I will never forget. [Redacted] destroyed their family.”

The offender’s mother also produced a heart-breaking, eloquent letter.

She recounted the “profound impact” on many people’s lives, including his two boys.

His sons were confused and sad witnessing their father being arrested right in front of them.

Their lives changed forever on April 21, 2022, she wrote.

“The boys were so young who once saw their father as a force of love and protection. His actions have shattered their trust and left them struggling to understand how someone they loved could cause so much pain. They were too young to fully process what has happened, but the life they knew was over.”

Circumstances of offender
Piecing together the offender’s background was limited in the absence of a pre-sentence report and psychiatric assessment.

Defence lawyer Lou Shelling told the court his client poorly dealt with past trauma and takes full responsibility for his actions.

He said the offender was fired his job in Nanaimo as a result of his employer becoming aware of the police investigation against him.

The offender rose in court to personally deliver an apology.

While sobbing as he read out the letter, he said he’s ashamed, embarrassed and horrified by his actions.

“I had a perfect family shattered by the repugnant decisions that I have made.”

He said words can’t begin to describe the harm and shame he’s caused.

“The mere mention of my name and thought of the memory brings untold pain and suffering, this saddens me deeply and drives me to be a better person. I pray that this pain will lessen over time.”

He noted he made matters worse be self-loathing with alcohol and marijuana while offending, and hopes treatment will help him become a productive member of society.

In addition to a year-long jail sentence and three years’ probation, 10 years of tailored restrictive conditions to separate the offender from minors in-person and online will apply once he’s released.

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

He declined to comment to NanaimoNewsNOW.

Judge Brian Harvey accepted the joint sentence recommendation for the offender.

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by Ian Holmes

Sex offender who exploited his own nieces gets one-year jail sentence

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