B.C. judge says man's ‘relatively modest' child porn collection doesn't merit jail time

National Post

a day ago

A B.C. man who admitted to police he was aroused by child pornography found in his home but later denied sexual interest in children, will serve his sentence at home, partly due to the 'relatively modest size' of his stash — six images.
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Such was the ruling from provincial court Judge Andrew Tam in Kelowna, who handed down a conditional sentence of two years less a day to Mark Keenan in a decision published this week.
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'Although there is no strict mathematical relationship between the size of the collection and the length (or indeed type) of sentence, the size of a collection has often been held to be an aggravating factor, ' Tam wrote.
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'It stands to reason, then, that a modest collection, while not a mitigating factor, could nevertheless distinguish it from other cases.'
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Keenan, 54, pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of child pornography and distribution of the same, offences for which he was first arrested in September 2018 after someone alerted the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about his account.
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The RCMP obtained a search warrant and found the six images meeting the definition of child pornography on one of his devices.
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Forensic investigations also uncovered communication between Keenan and other users, mostly adults but including one who identified as a 15-year-old boy, in which he discussed sexual activities with children and the exchange of images.
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Keenan insisted at his sentencing hearing in March that he had 'no sexual interest in children' and that he happened upon the images while searching for beach and sunset photos.
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So appalled at the sight of child pornography, Keenan, in both a statement to police upon his arrest and again at his hearing, maintained he found the images in September 2017 and was using them to run his own 'undercover sting' to catch pedophiles on Tumblr so he could get them banned.
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Tam rejected the idea the offences were carried out 'for the public good' and noted Keenan, in his statement to police, provided 'the most damning evidence.'
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When asked by officers if he was aroused by the images he replied, 'I mean, in a way, it's hard not to be.'
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He first pointed to the messages, in which Keenan offered 'extensive and detailed' insight into his sexual interests with children. The judge called the exchanges 'unnecessarily graphic' for someone only trying to snag a predator and questioned why they went on long after ample evidence had been acquired.