Former Sudbury reporter pleads guilty in child pornography case
WARNING – Graphic details of online sexual child abuse material may be disturbing to some readers.
A former Sudbury reporter has pleaded guilty to one charge related to online child sexual abuse material during a virtual court hearing Tuesday morning, avoiding a trial.
Callam Senyk-O'Flanagan, known professionally as Callam Rodya, was 32-years-old when he was identified by Greater Sudbury Police Service after downloading online child sexual abuse material using a file-sharing site between Nov. 14, 2018, and Feb. 13, 2019, Assistant Crown Attorney Christina Croteau read as part of the agreed statement of facts in the case.
Det. Const. Chris Kerr was reviewing undercover software and found it had downloaded a video depicting child sexual abuse at 1:18 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2018. The internet provider complied with the police request to supply the address linked to the account to which Senyk-O'Flanagan was subscribed.
The disturbing video has been identified to be of a 10- to 12-year-old girl from the U.S. being filmed while her father raped her and is part of a known child sexual abuse video series.
Officers raided his apartment on Riverside Drive on Feb. 13, 2019, and located evidence on multiple electronic devices, including a laptop and several storage devices, as well as a small baggy of suspected cocaine.
Senyk-O'Flanagan was charged with several counts of possession of, accessing, and making available child pornography, and drug possession. He was released on bail shortly after his arrest. The drug possession charge was dropped this summer.
A forensic analysis of his electronic devices found the video file that had been uploaded to the file-sharing program found by police as well as a total of 464 images identified as child pornography.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 2.
Under Indecent Acts section 173.1 of Canada's Criminal Code, of which Senyk-O'Flanagan has pleaded guilty to, "everyone who wilfully does an indecent act in a public place in the presence of one or more persons, or in any place with intent to insult or offend any person, is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction."
In the interim, an assessment will be done to determine if electronic monitoring will be available.
He is a former reporter with Sudbury.com and CTV Northern Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.
What's causing the catastrophic rainfall in Kenya?
The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the worst in the country in recent years. Here's how factors combined to create the deadly deluge.