Brandon man gets three years for child porn

A 21-year-old Brandon man was sentenced Tuesday to three years behind bars after investigators discovered he was distributing child pornography and possessed about 90 images in what a judge called a “grave violation” of the victims’ integrity.

Carson Hall pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography and possessing child pornography for the purpose of distribution in February — less than two years after he was arrested in his home.

A national tipline investigation found Hall had distributed three sexually posed images of children ages eight to 12 and four videos online, including one involving a man sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. In an unprompted statement to police, Hall admitted he also possessed an estimated 90 images of child sexual abuse material on his phone, court heard.

“This is not a victimless crime,” Judge Patrick Sullivan said Tuesday in Brandon provincial court.

“Real children were being raped by adults and exploited, and Mr. Hall’s involvement in the possession and distribution of that material serves to perpetuate that harm to those children.”

Sullivan said the case was “unique” because investigators were unable to access Hall’s phone to count the number of child pornography files in his possession or the depravity of the images, so the court relied on his confession.

Police found the accused was chatting with a third party on X, formerly known as Twitter, discussing his involvement in what Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup described as a “very disturbing trading economy” through a secure messaging app called TeleGuard.

Lonstrup said Hall accessed this material between the ages of 17 and 19.

“This accused was not an introductory user who had just dipped his toes relatively recently into this material,” he said, adding that Hall had detailed thoughts in his pre-sentence report of sexually offending against children.

This included offending against school-age children near his home and having an in-person meeting with someone he spoke to online who was based in the U.S.

“You see all sorts of indications like that, that these are the thoughts going through his head. Good that he was honest about it — disturbing that, by his own admission, this was translating to actual potential behaviour he was contemplating,” Lonstrup said.

The Crown said Hall was engaged in a subculture of child sexual abuse material in part by how he used euphemisms for child pornography online and was an “enthusiastic participant” in expressing his sexual desires for children.

Lonstrup said victims suffer a “slow acid drip of trauma” when they learn of unknown perpetrators who have accessed or viewed any recordings or imagery of them.

“Perpetrators reopen children’s wounds again and again, and by revictimizing them, prevent and hinder their recovery from the initial violence and exploitation,” he said.

While referencing case law, he said victims who have been violated in this way report experiencing lifelong trauma while trying to form relationships and carry out their day-to-day lives.

Online users who share this material not only indulge in their own fantasies but encourage and normalize the abhorrent behaviour for others while creating a greater demand for more content, Lonstrup said.

The Crown suggested a two-year sentence for possessing child pornography with an additional year for distributing the material.

“This is not material in the Crown’s view that would demand penitentiary time like we are increasingly seeing, but it certainly does lend itself to high provincial time,” Lonstrup said.

Defence lawyer Anthony Kavanagh argued his client should face a sentence of two years less a day, followed by two years of supervised probation.

“It should not be lost on the court that my client in some ways was part of this grooming and stumbled into this issue and became engaged in it. That doesn’t remove the harm he did, but it does show the context of this issue,” he said.

Hall has no prior criminal record and hasn’t reoffended in the community since he’s been released on bail, Kavanagh said, adding that he should be given credit for being upfront with police and pleading guilty.

The defence said Hall faces a variety of Gladue factors related to his upbringing, Indigeneity and impacts of a “toxic plume of colonization.”

As Sullivan gave his sentencing decision, Hall sat in the prisoner’s box with his head down. In the gallery, members of his family wiped tears from their eyes.

“It’s clear to me that your mind and heart are open to recognizing there’s a problem here,” Sulivan said to the accused.

“I think that’s the first step on the road to your recovery, and I just encourage you not to lose sight of that.”

The judge emphasized how perpetrators of this offence violate children’s dignity, invade their privacy and inflict severe emotional harm.

He veered from the Crown’s suggestions and sentenced Hall to a one-year sentence for possessing child pornography and a two-year sentence for the distribution, citing it was the more serious of the two offences.

Hall was ordered to submit a DNA sample and register as a sex offender for 20 years. He is also required to follow a number of conditions upon release, including being prohibited from accessing social media sites, any form of pornography and communicating with anyone under 18 years.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com