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After having graphic online conversations with a teenager at work – a former civilian worker at Moose Jaw’s military base will spend some time in jail.
The 58-year-old man’s name is under a publication ban to protect the identity of his daughter, whose pictures he used online during the explicit conversations.
The conversations happened over two days in February 2013. Using specialized programs, the conversations were flagged and sent to the National Center for Missing and Sexually Abused Children. From there the information was given to the RCMP and Saskatchewan’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE).
The conversations were traced to an IP address at National Defence, Bushell Park, Moose Jaw. So ICE contacted the base, gave them the information, and had them conduct the investigation.
The 58-year-old man, who worked in a technology field at the base, was put in charge of the investigation but, according to court records, he confessed almost immediately.
He was suspended, and eventually fired when he pleaded guilty to the charge of invitation to sexual touching.
Court documents say the accused spoke with the teen for hours at a time. The conversations started out normally, but got sexual and graphic quickly. He encouraged the teen to do sexual things, and to experiment with her 12-year-old cousin. He made comments like “wish I were there,” “wet,” and “sweet.”
According to the judge the man used pictures of his daughter because “he thought this would be more acceptable,” and pretended to be 15-years-old.
Many people gave letters of reference about how good a person and how community minded the accused is. But in the decision, the judge said that the fact his acquaintances and co-workers regard him well is troubling, because it shows how easy it is to keep these offenses under wraps. The judge also noted that the man was mature and “should have known better”.
The Crown asked for a six-month sentence, while the defence asked for 90 days served intermittently on weekends. The judge ultimately settled on four months in jail, with a year’s probation, including several orders like no guns, no contact with persons under 16, and no possession of anything that can connect to the internet unless it’s necessary for work, or schooling.
LSchick@rawlco.com
Follow on Twitter: @LMSchickler
