Child porn lands Yellowknife man in jail
Last Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009 | 8:01 PM CT
CBC News
A former Yellowknife lawyer and convicted sex offender has been sentenced to one year in jail and three years' probation for possessing child pornography.
Charles McGee was also sentenced Monday for violating the terms of a prior sentence on a conviction of indecent assault on a minor.
McGee pleaded guilty to both charges earlier this year.
McGee was convicted in 2004 and 2006 of indecent assault involving young girls, resulting from incidents that took place in the 1970s and '80s.
He was sentenced to nine months in jail and one year of probation on the 2006 conviction, and house arrest for the 2004 conviction.
74,000 images
But an RCMP investigation showed that McGee had viewed child pornography on his home computer while serving the house arrest sentence.
On Monday, prosecutors noted that McGee had hundreds of links to child pornography websites on his computer, along with thousands of images and a number of erotic stories about adults having sex with children.
"There was approximately 74,000 images that were kept on the computer or accessed by one of the computers at one point in time," prosecutor Janice Walsh said outside court Monday afternoon.
"Most of those images had been deleted, but there were actual pictures on Mr. McGee's laptop that were still accessible. In fact, one that had been a [desktop] wallpaper item."
Barred from using internet
When McGee's latest jail sentence ends, his probation will be subject to a number of conditions, such as a ban on using computers that are connected to the internet.
He will also be barred from attending public parks and other places where children under the age of 16 would likely be present.
The Crown asked for a 12-month to 18-month jail sentence during Monday's sentencing hearing, at which McGee's wife sat behind him in the courtroom.
Low to moderate risk to reoffend
Walsh said McGee underwent a forensic risk assessment that determined his risk to reoffend.
"There were two types of things that they were looking for: the recidivism rate — or risk of him to reoffend with a physical victim — which they found to be low, and the risk for him to reoffend by accessing child pornography through the internet, which they found to be moderate," she said.
"So he fell in a low to moderate risk to reoffend."
The defence argued that McGee was open and honest with investigators and is dealing with an alcohol addiction and pedophilia, and should thus be granted a more lenient sentence and access to programs and support for those issues.
The maximum sentence for possessing child pornography is five years.
