Salmon Arm Law Courts
(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)
November 19, 2019 - 7:00 PM
A Salmon Arm man who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography will not do any jail time.
Nicholas Van Humbeck, born 1980, pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing child pornography yesterday, Nov. 18, at the B.C. Supreme Court in Salmon Arm.
Justice Geoffrey Gomery sentenced Van Humbeck to a six-month conditional sentence order, which for the first three months will restrict him to being at home between 3 p.m. and 11 a.m. except to go to work. Following the first 90 days, Van Humbeck's curfew restricts him to staying home between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Van Humbeck was originally charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography in April 2018 after police searched his home following a tip from internet firm Yahoo. The company informed the RCMP that an IP address linked to Van Humbeck had uploaded three images of child pornography from September 2016 to June 2017.
During the trial in September, Justice Gomery had found "ambiguity" in one of 16 paragraphs of the warrant police used to search Van Humbeck's home. One section of the warrant did not give the date the offence was committed and the IP address had been written down incorrectly. The judge dismissed any evidence seized under the authority of the ambiguous paragraph, although he did not rule as to precisely what that evidence was.
Instead of continuing with the trial Nov. 18, Van Humbeck pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of child pornography. The Crown stayed the charge of distribution of child pornography.
Along with the six-month conditional sentence, Van Humbeck is also prohibited from visiting public parks, swimming areas, or any places where persons under the age of 18 years old may congregate. He's also prohibited from being alone with persons under 18, and not allowed access to any device that is capable of accessing the internet, and will have to submit a DNA sample.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2019