A judge handed a penitentiary sentence to a Martensville man who says he is addicted to child pornography — to the point where he continued downloading it even after his wife caught him.
Around 12,000 images were found on Dale Edward Blair’s computer in 2016 after police were alerted through an investigation into child porn being shared on a social messaging app called Kik.
Police found a user had sent 34 child porn files — depicting sexual abuse of children mostly under five years of age — to a chat group in 2009, Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli told court. A notification indicated that the same user shared more child porn in October 2016.
The user was determined to be Blair and a search warrant was issued on Dec. 21, 2016. Blair admitted downloading child porn and using Kik to share it.
“He’s relieved not to have to hide this anymore,” defence lawyer Lisa Watson said.
Blair, 30, was sentenced on Monday in Saskatoon provincial court to three years in prison after pleading guilty to one count each of accessing, possessing and sharing child porn. Judge Marilyn Gray imposed the sentence, which was jointly submitted by the Crown and defence. Each charge carries a minimum sentence of one year, but Blair received three years for each charge, to be served concurrently.
Morelli said aggravating factors include the young age of the victims and the size of Blair’s collection — which was larger before he deleted a portion of it when his wife discovered the files in November 2016. Although he tried to get rid of the material, Blair “felt a compulsion to return to it,” Watson said.
There is no evidence of Blair ever directly harming a child, even though his pre-sentence report indicated he was a victim of child sexual abuse. Watson argued the sexual abuse contributed to her client’s offending and mental health issues; court heard Blair has been suicidal since he was charged but immediately sought counselling with his wife’s support.
Because there was no “hands-on” offending, a sex offender risk assessment could not be done, Watson said. She noted that another recidivism tool determined he was a low risk to reoffend. Blair hopes to access sex offender treatment while in prison, court heard.
For three years after his release, Blair will be banned from visiting pools, parks or playgrounds unless he’s with an adult who is aware of his conviction. He will also be prohibited from using the internet, except at work.
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