Jesse Aaron Prince will be sentences May 7 for his involvement in child pornography possession and distribution.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

PENTICTON - A Penticton man faces up to four years in prison after being found guilty on one count each of possessing and accessing child pornography and two counts of importing or distributing child pornography.

Jesse Aaron Prince denied his involvement in the charges, which stem from the period of Oct. 28, 2009 to Sept. 12, 2010.

Police executed a search warrant after Prince engaged in internet conversations with an undercover police officer regarding his child pornography preferences, in addition to soliciting and distributing child porn online.

Crown prosecutor Nashina Devji told court police found 330 to 350 images on his computer and six to eight videos of young children and toddlers being molested.

Some photos depicted young children in dog collars and leashes.

Devji noted Prince’s lack of a guilty plea and denial of the offences, which she said needed to be admitted before any rehabilitation would be possible. She said many of the media images contained elements of degradation, adding Prince had his collection of pornographic images well-organized, catalogued and archived. She said his distribution of the images played a major role in sustaining the market for child pornography.

Devji asked Judge Kathleen Ker for a sentence totalling four years, including a 10-year order to stay away from children or public places where they might be found.

Prince has been in custody for 536 days. With credit for time served, he has served 804 days.

Defence lawyer James Pennington argued for time served. He said his client, now 35, had a long and tortured past in an aboriginal home where both parents were residential school survivors.

He said Prince’s pre-sentence report referring to a lack of sexual, physical or emotional abuse taking place in Prince’s childhood household while he was growing up was “categorically false.”

Pennington said it had been very difficult to get background information about Prince, but when one delves into his history "it becomes clear that this is an aspect of his life he would dearly like to disappear, to fade into the past."

He said Prince’s recollection of the past in Fort St. James, where he grew up, brought “a flood of nightmares, traumatic experiences, as he recalls, his maternal grandfather and father, are residential school survivors, as are many other members of his family, including his mother’s family in Alberta.”

“Mr. Prince’s childhood is filled with episodes of alcohol, physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as racial discrimination,” Pennington told Judge Ker.

Pennington also said his client, who had been a heroin and fentanyl addict, had stayed clear of drugs while in prison, in spite of the fact he was able to access it.

Judge Ker adjourned her decision until May 7.

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