A Nanaimo health-care professional was sentenced to 20 months in jail for filming his partner in the shower without consent and being in possession of the largest collection of child pornography the prosecutor has ever seen.

On Wednesday, June 14, the man, who will remain unnamed to protect his victim鈥檚 identity, pled guilty to importing and being in possession of child pornography, and secretly recording nudity in a private place.

Leanne Mascolo, Crown counsel, and Owen James, defence counsel, entered a joint submission before Justice Carmen Rogers.

According to the agreed statement of facts, police traced the man鈥檚 IP address in May 2020 and recovered more than 30,000 photos and videos depicting children 鈥� some allegedly as young as six years old 鈥� being sexually abused. Police later recovered videos of the man鈥檚 partner, the mother of their eight-year-old daughter, in the shower taken in December 2020; she said she was not aware of the cameras.

鈥淭he Crown鈥檚 concerns are often the aggravating factors of the size of the collection,鈥� said Mascolo. 鈥淭he largest one I鈥檝e ever dealt with.鈥�

The defence agreed with a jail sentence, but argued for a shorter probation afterward. The defence stated that there was no evidence of intentionally sharing photos, and that the man鈥檚 pornography addiction was the result of the lack of mental health treatment and lack of personal intimacy throughout his childhood.

James said the defendant was released on bail conditions after his arrest in 2020, and has since been regularly going to therapy.

鈥淗e described to me that his sense of shame, self-shame, developed into his teen years. He suffered from feelings of uselessness, adequacy, low self-esteem and low self-worth,鈥� James said. 鈥淧eople refer to addiction as having a life of its own. It鈥檚 something he knows is and was wrong, knows he shouldn鈥檛 be doing it. And he knew the harm it causes. But a person puts up delusions.鈥�

The defence said he described choosing to illegally film his partner was part of the 鈥渞ush.鈥� He hasn鈥檛 spoken to his family since his arrest.

In court on Wednesday, he apologized to his partner and daughter for the harm he caused, and also apologized to the victims in the videos, saying it was 鈥渉orrifying鈥� that he was drawn to their exploitation.

The judge said the man seemed remorseful and insightful of his feelings and mental state. Though she agreed with Crown counsel that the collection of child pornography was 鈥渕assive,鈥� she was optimistic that he could be rehabilitated, and said she hopes to hear a 鈥減ositive story鈥� after his sentence.

The man was sentenced to 20 months鈥� incarceration and two years鈥� probation during which time he cannot use social media without his probation officer鈥檚 consent. He will be on the registered sex offenders鈥� list for 20 years. He will be allowed to contact his daughter by mail while incarcerated.

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bailey.seymour@nanaimobulletin.com
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