Man sent to prison for making child porn

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This article was published 14/08/2021 (1692 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A family has suffered ever since a man secretly recorded intimate images of his two stepdaughters and hacked one of their phones, a court heard on Friday afternoon.

The man pleaded guilty in March to making child pornography between January 2016 and 2019, possessing child porn and voyeurism.

A publication ban was placed on any information that could identify the victims and by extension the accused, who was their stepfather.

The victims and their mother, along with several others people, sat in the courtroom behind the accused.

“I always thought it was my fault you decided to take those photos and videos because mom had kids and I was a kid at the time,” one of the stepdaughters read from her victim impact statement.

“The one person my mom should have pushed away was you. I really hope you’re happy with your decision but you’re simply scared you were caught … you thought you were stealthy.”

Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup said the man had 147 unique photos and 62 videos of the victims. Some of the images were secretly downloaded from one of their cellphones and others were taken in the bathroom.

The man also had 15 images of child abuse from the internet, which did not show his stepdaughters, Lonstrup said.

The man was in a position of trust when he violated his stepdaughters’ trust, according to the Crown, which has devastated them.

“Whatever happens today, a life sentence has been pronounced and it’s the victims who are serving it,” Lonstrup said.

He recommended a total sentence of 33 months in prison for the charges. A recent decision in the Supreme Court of Canada dramatically increased the range of prison sentences for child abuse cases, but Lonstrup said he came to the recommendation before the decision was handed down.

The man’s former stepdaughters and partner all read their victim impact statements in court.

One woman said she felt like her life was not worth living in the aftermath of discovering her stepfather made child porn of her and she attempted suicide twice in the aftermath. She said it feels like there is a little girl inside her too scared to come out in case the same thing happens again.

The other step-daughter told the court she was the one who found the images while the rest of the family was away.

“This man’s actions have affected my life so much since that day I found these photos and videos, something as simple as a good family memory he was involved with is tainted with what he has done,” she told the court through tears.

The revelation came as an absolute shock and was gut-wrenching, the man’s former partner said in her victim impact statement. She said she felt anger, shame and guilt she brought someone into her daughters’ lives who put them in such danger.

The whole family now struggles with depression and other mental health issues, she said, and some things will never heal.

All three women spoke through tears and broke down crying while reading their victim impact statements.

The man, who sat in front of the judge, looked away while the victims spoke and closed his eyes.

Nothing said in court on Friday can change the harm or life-altering consequences of the crime for the victims and family, said defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn. The incident will forever change them.

The man takes full responsibility for what he did, Synyshyn said, but doesn’t know what drove him to commit the crime.

“It’s a situation where we are human, we are fallible, we make decisions and choices, sometimes for no reason that we know and (the man) to this day continues to struggle with why he chose to take the actions he did and what it was that drove him to do so,” Synyhsn said.

Synyshyn jointly recommended the 33-month sentence with the Crown attorney. He argued the videos were a violation of the victims, but the man never shared them or did anything other than have them.

The accused’s life was also affected by sexual abuse, Synyshyn said, and he continued it with his stepdaughters. He has suffered upheaval and discord in his own life and has past trauma he needs to work through.

The man did not make a statement to the court during the Friday sentencing hearing.

Judge Patrick Sullivan said the incident makes his “skin crawl” and he was at a loss for words.

“You stood in the place of a father to these people, they loved you, they trusted you. What a grotesque abuse of that relationship,” Sullivan said to the man.

The fact the videos were taken in the bathroom, where people are meant to have privacy, also makes it more serious, the judge said.

While the man did not show remorse in the pre-sentence report prepared before court, Sullivan said he deserves credit for pleading guilty and sparing the victims the experience of testifying.

Sullivan endorsed the joint recommendation and sentenced the man to 33 months in prison. He also ordered him to provide a sample of his DNA to police and banned him from using the internet except for work.

The man was led away to jail by Manitoba Sheriff officers after the judge delivered his decision.

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