Oceanside man sentenced for possessing over 12,000 child sex abuse images

“As the Courts in this province and country have indicated, possessing child sexual abuse materials perpetuates the abuse of the child depicted in those images. They are subject to, essentially, never-ending abuse at the hands of the people who initially exploited them.”

Dos Santos will also serve two years of probation following his release, as well as restrictions on his internet usage, and is forbidden from going to places where anyone under 16 might be present for a period of five years.

He will also be on the police-accessible DNA sex offender registry for 20 years.

At the request of the accused, Judge Harvey made a recommendation Dos Santos serve his time at Ford Mountain Correctional Centre in Chilliwack, a “multi-level security centre primarily for aboriginal men, offenders with a mental disorder, and sexual offenders,” according to their website.

Offences

In May, 2024, the BC Integrated Child Exploitative Unit (BC ICE) received a report from web search engine Microsoft Bing that someone in the Oceanside area had uploaded suspected child sex abuse material the month prior.

BC ICE passed the information to the Oceanside RCMP, who found the computer’s IP address was registered to Dos Santos’ from his Nanoose Bay home.

Police began surveilling him, and executed a search warrant on Aug. 7, with Dos Santos’ home at the time.

Police seized a laptop and two hard drives, and upon further examination, flagged over 3,000 media files as meeting the definition of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, with the files labelled “Scientific Research” and “Experimental Development.”

They contained images of girls between the ages of 4 and 12, engaging in various sex acts with adult males as well as other minors, with their faces and genital areas fully exposed.

Some of the children were visibly upset and crying in the images.

On Nov. 29, 2024, BC ICE received a second, similar report from Bing regarding Dos Santos’ IP address again uploading suspected child sex abuse material.

A second search warrant was executed on his home on March 12, 2025, where a laptop and storage drives were seized.

This time, over 9,000 images which fit the description of child sexual abuse were discovered.

Dos Santos was arrested and charged in relation to both searches of his home and released on an undertaking, with conditions not allowing him on the internet or to be in possession of a device capable of accessing the internet.

However, on April 17, police received a tip and searched Dos Santos’ home for a third time, finding a laptop and portable hard drive.

“He told police that he did know that he was, in fact, not allowed to possess a laptop,” said Hauschildt. “But made the choice to breach his conditions in order to maintain a state of normalcy in his life. He stated that he purchased the laptop almost immediately after being released on the undertaking.”

Background

Born in Ontario, court heard Dos Santos became a ward of the province and entered the foster system at the age of two.

He self-reported being in over 100 different foster homes between two and six years old, where he experienced mental, physical, and emotional abuse.

At six, he was placed with the family he would stay with until he turned 18, with his foster mom saying Dos Santos would become aggressive and afraid when she would try to change his clothing, or when it was time for a bath.

A psychological report submitted from March indicated Dos Santos may have also suffered sexual abuse during his time in foster care, something he has no memory of, but was indicated during his work in therapy.

The author of the report said Dos Santos felt remorse for his actions, understood it was not a victimless crime, and is doing the work to understand his offending.

He also voluntarily started in a sex offender treatment program for over a year, has no prior criminal record, and indicated he wanted to plead guilty before the investigation into his actions was complete, and prior to him obtaining a lawyer.

Judge Harvey considered these mitigating factors in his decision to accept the joint submission.

Harvey also read from an essay Dos Santos wrote during his time in the treatment program, where he admits he’s “an active participant in a cycle of abuse” when he views child pornography.

“The distance between me sitting on my laptop and a naked child is an illusion. Each moment I view child pornography, I’m enacting and propriating physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Child pornography is a gateway to untold acts of heinous abuse of children, including rape and murder. While I view child pornography, I’m not only complicit in the manufacturing of photos and videos, I’m also responsible for the gateway crimes that (are) inflicted on victims.”

Dos Santos only addressed the court to say he understood the charges against him and that he felt he was well-represented by his lawyer.

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by Jordan Davidson

Oceanside man sentenced for possessing over 12,000 child sex abuse images

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