Jason Paur outside the Vernon Courthouse earlier this year.
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
September 25, 2014 - 10:35 AM
VERNON - A Seattle ski coach with an impending trial in Vernon was indicted on more child pornography related charges across the border this week.
On Wednesday, a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Jason Christopher Paur, 44, on five charges, including two counts of production and transportation of child pornography, and one count each of production of child pornography with intent to transport, possession of child pornography, and transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Paur was arrested by the Vernon RCMP in December 2013 after female students on a school trip to Silver Star Mountain Resort discovered a video camera hidden in their bedroom. The students were on an annual ski trip organized by The Bush School, a private institution in Seattle. In a press release, U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said the camera was positioned to videotape the young students while they got dressed after showering.
Through the investigation, authorities learned Paur secretly recorded students on the annual field trip in 2011 and 2012. Durkan said the camera seized in Canada contained images of students between the ages of 14 and 17 being secretly filmed while changing clothes or after exiting the shower.
The indictment alleges Paur used the pictures for his own sexual gratification, and transported the pictures from Canada to the U.S. The indictment further alleges he traveled with the students to Canada planning to film them for his own sexual gratification.
After the students came forward, Paur was immediately removed from the school trip and later fired from The Bush School in Seattle, where he coached cross-country skiing.
Paur remains in Canadian custody awaiting a January trial on charges of secretly observing or recording nudity in a private place, accessing child pornography, possessing child pornography, and breaking and entering a dwelling with intent. He was denied bail in February and sent back to the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.
Efforts to extradite Paur are expected to begin after his trial in Canada.
The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Vaughan.
Paur’s charges in the U.S. and Canada are only allegations and he is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014