Ryan Hampton is escorted from the Vernon courthouse in this file photo from earlier this year.
Image Credit: Global Okanagan (with permission)
July 16, 2015 - 6:30 PM
KELOWNA – The former Vernon Mountie facing child porn charges in Kelowna says he didn’t tell an investigator he left images and videos of child porn on a flash drive for his wife to find, directly contradicting testimony given by the Sargent who first interviewed him in May of 2013.
Ryan Hampton is on trial in Supreme Court for possessing and accessing child pornography, six counts of breach of undertaking and one count of attempting to obstruct justice. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying his ex-wife is framing him to gain custody of their three children and their home.
Hampton took the stand during a voire dire, a sort of trial-within-a-trial, so Justice Barry Davies can determine if statements he allegedly made the day Little turned in the drive, are admissible.
Sgt. Michael Buxton-Carr testified in court earlier this week Hampton told him he didn’t immediately delete 62 images and four videos because he wanted his ex-wife and accuser Valerie Little to find them. Today, July 16, Hampton said that wasn't true. He also said he hadn't had anything to drink that day and wasn’t on any of the drugs he admitted to being addicted to at the start of trial July 13.
When Crown lawyer Claire Ducluzeau asked why he didn't delete the images on the drive, Hampton said he didn't know.
It is not clear when, if ever, Hampton saw the images on the drive but 28 days passed between when LIttle says she first found it and when she took it to police. Defence allege she used that time to try to coerce Hampton to sign over custody of their three young children.
Hampton also does not recall saying “what they’re looking for they will find,” as Buxton-Carr testified earlier this week.
“I said whatever was put on there will still be there,” he said of the reason he willingly gave up the pink laptop Little alleges he used to download the files.
"I had concerns that Valerie had tampered with it," he said. "I have never looked for any child porn and any searches I made will still be on there.”
Hampton was a member of the Vernon RCMP from 2006 until he resigned following the charges in June 2013. He told Justice Davies he was surprised he wasn’t arrested May 5 after Little, who was also a RCMP constable and his wife since 2011, turned in the flash drive.
Tarnow’s next line of questions suggested that if Buxton-Carr really did get the admission he says he got, he never would have allowed Hampton to leave the Vernon detachment.
“I believe that would have been brought up in court later if I had fled or committed another crime,” Hampton said. “In my opinion… what Mike (Buxton-Carr) told me is that he believed a criminal code offence had been committed. We make arrests all the time… without having all the facts.”
Justice Davies temporarily adjourned the voire dire to give Sgt. Buxton-Carr, who is now back in Kamloops, a chance to respond to the discrepancies.
Ducluzeau says the trial may need longer than the ten days it was originally scheduled for and intends to call ten more witnesses in the coming days and weeks. The next witness is Sgt. Douglas Collins, an expert in forensic examination of computer systems. He takes the stand Thursday afternoon.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015