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December 02, 2014 - 11:43 AM
KELOWNA - A Kelowna man will spend the next 20 weekends behind bars for having pornographic images of kids between the ages of six and 12 on his computer.
Terrance Richard Avery, 68, was arrested in 2011 after police traced his IP address and obtained a search warrant for his residence.
Crown prosecutor Murray Kaay says 61 files, including video and still images, were found on his confiscated laptop. The files contained images of kids under 12 years old, some engaging in sex with adults.
Avery, who appeared in provincial court Monday afternoon, pleaded guilty to the charge of possessing child pornography. He kept his head bowed and his hands folded on the table as his lawyer said he downloaded the files out of “astonishment.”
Crown prosecutor Murray Kaay said that explanation defies common sense.
“It just doesn’t accord with reality,” he said. “He acknowledges what he did was wrong yet he continued to download the material. The actions of downloading are fundamentally inconsistent with… someone who is shocked or horrified or disgusted by the images that he discovered.”
Also found on Avery’s computer were images and video of adult women role-playing as children as well as bestiality and terrorist beheadings.
The defence claimed Avery did not require counselling, which Kaay called “a red flag.”
“It is certainly disturbing material… and cannot be classified as benign,” he said.
Judge Gale Sinclair acknowledged the low to moderate risk of re-offense as stated in the pre-sentence report, but agreed with Crown that the mandatory minimum of 45 days was not long enough to send a message that the type of material found on Avery’s computer does significant harm.
“There is no fool like an old fool,” Sinclair said. “If nobody looked at this crap they wouldn’t make it and these kids wouldn’t be exploited.”
Avery, an employee with a construction company who has no criminal record, was sentenced to 90 days in jail to be served at the Kelowna RCMP detachment on consecutive weekends. He will also be on probation for three years during which time he may not access the internet except for work and is forbidden from going to public places where children are likely to be present.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014