B.C. man caught with 9,400 child pornography images given 12-month sentence

(RCMP handout photo)

Warning: This story contains references to child abuse.

A 32-year-old Vancouver man who was caught with thousands of child pornography images – and whose chat messages suggested he was a potential threat to his young daughter – has been sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 18 to 21 months for the offender, identified only as B.H. in court documents.

In his Nov. 10 decision, which was posted online this week, provincial court judge Mark Jetté noted a number of mitigating factors, including that the offender was cooperative with police throughout their investigation and showed genuine remorse for his behaviour.

"He has taken accountability and has expressed some understanding that there is a direct link between his viewing of child pornographic images and the harm done to children who are exploited in the most horrific way in order to create this online content," Jetté wrote.

There were several aggravating factors as well, including the "size and nature" of the offender's child pornography collection. Police found 9,405 images and 83 videos on B.H.’s iPhone, some of which involved children between the ages of two and five.

Authorities began investigating B.H. in January 2020, when an undercover police officer from Milwaukee encountered him in two chat groups where members were sharing child sexual abuse images, including one group called "Teeny Tiny Tots."

The officer asked if B.H. had ever been sexually active with his own children, and his response prompted enough alarm for authorities to expedite their investigation.

"He replied that he was 'new to this' and realized he liked 'young stuff' and had been told by people that 'playing' was fun and he should try it," Jetté said. "He also said he has a four-month-old daughter and was worried that her mother might see him playing."

The possibility B.H. might have gone on to abuse his own child was another aggravating factor in sentencing, the judge wrote. The offender also admitted to having a sexually explicit online conversation with a 15-year-old that lasted for about a year.

Police executed a search warrant at B.H.'s home in March 2020, and arrested him the next day.

Jetté said B.H. provided the password for his phone to police after his arrest, and allowed the FBI to take over his chat account to continue their investigation into the image-sharing groups.

The court heard B.H.'s mother was a sex worker with a substance abuse problem, and that he was removed from her care at the age of five. He left home at age 17, fathered four children from three mothers, and developed a crack cocaine addiction of his own.

"B.H.'s moral culpability is high but it is also offset to some extent by the struggles he was experiencing in his life," Jetté wrote. “His crack cocaine addiction, in particular, was a major contributing cause of his drift into the world of child pornography where he remained for a period of some eight months."

A doctor who assessed B.H.'s mental health found he was at a low to moderate risk of reoffending – unless he continued to use drugs.

Jetté also sentenced the offender to 18 months' probation after he's released from jail, during which time he'll be under several strict conditions, including an order requiring that he abstain from drug or alcohol use.

He will be barred from having contact with anyone under the age of 16, and required to undergo a psychiatric intake assessment or treatment program.

The judge said B.H. could have contact with his children, but only "in the immediate presence of another guardian."