Mount Pearl man pleads guilty in disturbing internet child porn case
Warning: this report contains graphic and disturbing language
CBC News
Posted: Jun 27, 2012 6:50 AM NT
Last Updated: Jun 27, 2012 9:10 AM NT
Craig St. John of Mount Pearl in provincial court in St. John's on Tuesday. (CBC)
A Mount Pearl man who said he is addicted to child pornography has pleaded guilty in a disturbing case involving images of children being abused and sexual encounters with boys.
Craig St. John pleaded guilty to trafficking and possessing child pornography and to having sexual encounters with young boys over the internet.
In provincial court in St. John's on Tuesday, St. John kept his face hidden behind his long hair and beard as his crimes were read into the court record.
St. John was arrested in 2010 after police in Saskatoon, Sask. noticed someone frequently using an online file-sharing service to distribute child pornography. They traced the computer to an address in Mount Pearl, and contacted Sgt. Ed Billard with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's child exploitation unit.
When police seized St. John's laptop, it contained more than 12,000 images of child pornography and 1,100 child porn videos.
Later that day, St. John gave a statement to police in which he admitted to trafficking child pornography. He said the images were "like a drug to him."
RNC Const. Greg Hobbs testified that the material was vile and disgusting. It included images of man having anal sex with an infant, and of young children forced to perform oral sex on adult men.
St. John preyed on boys online
But while police analyzed the massive amount of child porn, St John acquired a second laptop, and rebuilt his collection.
Only this time, he went further.
In 2011, police in Dorset in the United Kingdom received a complaint from a 14-year-old boy, who said he had met a stranger on a website for gay or confused teens.
The person claimed to be another teenager. In fact, it was St. John.
He sent the boy images of child porn, and convinced him to remove his clothes and masturbate in front of a webcam.
Police again followed the online trail to the same home in Mount Pearl.
On St. John's new laptop, they found records of dozens of similar encounters with teenagers that all followed the same pattern.
Prosecutor Lloyd Strickland asked that St. John be sentenced to 42 months in prison. The defence is seeking two-and-a-half years. Defence lawyer Randy Pearcey noted that St. John has co-operated with police, including handing over his online account alias, so police can use it to catch other child pornographers.
St. John will be sentenced on July 13.
Share Tools
Latest Nfld. & Labrador News Headlines
- Controlling hospital infections a continuing concern
- The Newfoundland and Labrador government is refusing to release what it calls a draft report on hospital-acquired infections — a report that one health official said found rates higher here than the national average. more »
- Crew safe after vessel sinks off St. John's
- Gander search and rescue says four crew members from a vessel which capsized about 70 nautical miles northeast of St. John's have been rescued by the crew of another ship. more »
- Crown loses bid to appeal killer's release
- The Crown has been denied a chance to appeal a decision in a disturbing murder case on the west coast of Newfoundland. more »
- Shoal Point retracts claim of drilling approval
- Shoal Point Energy has retracted an earlier claim that it had received approval from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to drill a new well on the west coast of Newfoundland. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Harper 'not consulted' about Duffy Senate expense repayment
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that not only did he not know about his chief of staff's "gift" to repay Senator Mike Duffy's expenses before the story broke in the media, he was not consulted and did not sign off on Nigel Wright's decision to write a personal cheque. more »
- 2 infants confirmed among dead of Oklahoma tornado
- Rescue workers raced to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of 10 children. more »
- 'You will see him again in heaven,' Sharlene Bosma tells daughter
- Sharlene Bosma told more than 1,000 people at the public memorial service for her slain husband, Tim Bosma, about the love they shared. more »
- Mayor Ford stays silent while his brother defends him
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continues to stonewall the media over allegations that he was recorded on video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, but his brother Coun. Doug Ford told reporters Wednesday that the story is untrue. more »
- Bay Roberts couple win $2M on scratch ticket
- Labrador school a 'toxic' place to work, says report
- Facebook post foreshadows teen's robbery arrest
- Marshall asks Senate committee to review her pay
- Crew safe after vessel sinks off St. John's
- A0A not OK for Shea Heights residents
- St. John's to spend $1.5M to develop park
- Court date set for nurse involved in privacy breach
- Crown attorneys' group head leaving post
