Former Summerland lifeguard Edward Casavant was sentenced to a six year jail term in Penticton court today, Jan. 13, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / RCMP
January 13, 2020 - 3:16 PM
Former Summerland lifeguard Ed Casavant was sentenced in Penticton court today.
The 55-year-old who went by the name “Eddie Spaghetti" entered guilty pleas on four counts including possession of child pornography, secretly recording nudity in a private place, sexual exploitation of a person with a disability and making or publishing child pornography in July this year.
Casavant worked as a lifeguard at the Summerland Aquatic Centre from 1982 to November 2018, in addition to serving as a contract lifeguard at summer camps and schools. He also had an early childhood education certificate which allowed him to provide overnight care for children.
Police began an investigation after seizing two computers from Staples in Penticton on Nov. 19, 2018. They were called by the manager after an employee found evidence of child porn on an old computer Casavant had left at the store in order to transfer its files to a new unit he had just purchased.
Police found photos of nude children at the Summerland Aquatic Centre, in addition to video images of naked children in the change room.
In another incident, Casavant was providing respite care for an autistic five-year-old when allegations of sexual touching surfaced in 2014.
Police investigated at the time, but couldn’t bring charges against Casavant.
Police reviewed the case again in 2019 and found photo stills of an eight-year-old in a sex act and later confirmed the boy was the one Casavant had been providing care for.
Casavant had provided respite care for a number of other families over the years, but an extensive police investigation has so far failed to turn up any more complaints.
On Dec. 6, 2019, a joint submission was presented in Penticton court with a request for a five-year prison term by defence lawyer Don Skogstad and Crown prosecutor Dorothy Tsui.
Judge Lisa Wyatt reserved her decision until today, Jan. 13, adding an additional year to the joint submission.
According to Crown spokesperson Daniel McLaughlin, Casavant received credit for one year time served and sentenced to time served on one count of possessing child pornography and one count of voyeurism at today’s hearing.
Casavant also received a five-year sentence which will run from date of sentencing for one count of sexual exploitation and a three year concurrent sentence for one count of making child pornography. He was also given a 10-year firearms ban.
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