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November 18, 2020 - 8:00 AM
A Kamloops man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by two years probation for possessing child pornography.
Kevin Victor MacLeod, 51, pleaded guilty to the possession of child pornography and was sentenced Nov. 17, in Kamloops Provincial Court.
Crown lawyer Alison Buchanan told the court that MacLeod was found in possession of child pornography from May 26, 2013 to March 3, 2018. She highlighted the size of the collection, which contained hundreds of images, and the nature of the materials, some of which depicted sexual violence and children as young as eight years old performing "degrading sexual acts."
Court also heard from defence lawyer Cameron Johnson that MacLeod is "a hoarder of data," who has social anxiety so severe he rarely leaves his home, living his life in the online world. He had no criminal record before these charges.
Police found 55 hard drives in MacLeod's home, Johnson said, and he also hoarded floppy disks that "he just couldn't get rid of."
He said MacLeod admitted to knowing about the prohibited pornographic materials, "but could not bring himself to destroy them."
In court June 29, 2020, Supreme Court judge Dev Dley ordered a psychological evaluation of MacLeod to be included in the pre-sentence report.
READ MORE: Guilty plea to child porn charge in Kamloops Supreme Court
However, the psychological evaluation was found to be inadmissible, as the Crown explained it was based on unsubstantiated evidence.
Johnson said that this was unfortunate, as a psychological evaluation may have been able to assess whether or not hoarding was at the root of MacLeod's crime, or whether other psychological issues were at play.
In a joint submission, Crown and defence counsel asked that MacLeod serve 18 months in jail plus two years probation, minus time served. He will serve a further 337 days behind bars.
Justice Steven Wilson agreed to the terms of the submission, and also ordered that MacLeod submit records of his browsing history to his probation officer upon request, and not contact anyone under the age of 16 online, with the exception of family members.
He also placed MacLeod under a 10-year order restricting MacLeod from attending parks, schools, daycares, or any place where there are, or could be children under 16 years old.
MacLeod was facing three other charges, including sexual interference of a person under the age of 16, an invitation to sexual touching of a person under 16, and making or publishing child pornography. However, the Crown directed those charges be stayed.
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