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VERNON - A Vernon man found guilty of committing multiple child pornography related cyber crimes against children in the Philippines was painted by Crown counsel as a manipulative and intelligent person who prayed on some of the most vulnerable people in the world bargaining over just a few dollars to sexually exploit them.

Wayne Douglas Brown, 69, was found guilty June 12 of telecommunicating with children under 16 and 18 to facilitate an offence, possession of child pornography, arranging an offence with another person against children under 16 and 18, and unlawfully counselling the offence of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching. Brown was originally charged in September 2016 and has been in custody since August 2017.

Brown stood emotionless in a Vernon courtroom today, Aug.13, as Crown counsel Frank Caputo argued for a five to seven-year jail sentence reading out a multitude of disturbing incidents of sexual exploitation and telling the court "these are difficult things to read, these are difficult things to hear."

Caputo told the court of how Brown had contacted numerous teenage girls in the Philippines online; the victims are referred to in court only by their initials under a publication ban. In one case Brown had paid a teenage girls mother to touch her daughter sexually while he watched online. The court heard how Brown had contacted several victims and arranged to visit the Philippines to see them.

In another case, Brown had requested the mother to make sure the teenager would "stay a virgin" until he arrived in the Philippines. Brown had asked the mother if he could have sex with her teenaged daughter, of which she had replied "yes."

Caputo told the court of how Brown had been calculated and manipulative in his action. At one point when the mother had said she was "afraid to do this to her daughter," Brown had asked "afraid of what?" The mother had replied saying she didn't want to go to jail, to which Brown replied, "No one is ever going to know."

The court heard how Brown had bargained with his victims about how much money to send, offering 1,500 pesos in payment; an amount Caputo said was equivalent to $37 Canadian dollars. Brown was also reported as saying to one victim, "I dropped other girls because they were getting too greedy."

During Caputo's hour-long sentencing hearing submission to the court, the lawyer often used the word "blank" instead of using the most vulgar words that Brown had used with his victims.

The court heard how Brown had been an H-Vac engineer with a master's degree and no prior criminal record related to sexual crimes. Brown had four children from two separate marriages and has been married for six years to a Filipino woman who lives in the Philippines.

Brown's defence lawyer Nicholas Jacob asked for a four-year jail sentence, with a following five-year ban on Brown using the internet or visiting a public park after he was released. The crown asked for a lifetime internet ban once Brown served jail time.

Brown will return to court next month for sentencing.

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