Sault senior sentenced to 30 months in jail in child porn case
A 71-year-old man from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., found guilty of having and making available child pornography to others, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Kenneth Newell represented himself in a trial that took four days over several months earlier this year.
Justice Romuald Kwolek found him guilty in June and released the reasons for sentencing Sept. 13.
More than 4,300 files containing online child sexual abuse material were found by detectives connected to Kenneth Newell's IP address in 2020, court documents obtained by CTV News said.
Police underwent a four-month investigation from September 2020 to January 2021 which resulted in the search of Newell's apartment on Jan. 27, 2021.
Officers seized 13 devices found in his living room and five of them had either accessible or inaccessible online child sexual abuse material files.
"Many of these images had hashtags for child pornography … and involved scantily clad girls in sexually provocative poses 6-12 years of age," a court document about the case said.
"The majority of those files had names associated to common child pornography terms such as PTHC (pre-teen hardcore) 11yo, 7 yo."
While many of the files found on Newell's devices had been deleted, many were accessible with links to child pornographic materials.
"The child pornography files on the various devices were accessed on multiple occasions over a number of years," the court document said.
"In this case, the forensic analyst found 192 accessible and 7,294 inaccessible child pornography images and 52 accessible and 275 inaccessible child pornography videos on the devices seized.
During the trial, Newell maintained the child pornography was "not intentionally downloaded."
- Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
- Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
- Want more local news? Check out the Sault Ste. Marie page
Taking his age, mental and physical health issues and his lack of a criminal record into consideration, the judge reduced the sentence from three years to two and a half for making child pornography available.
A second 24-month sentence will be served concurrently for the possession of child pornography charge.
Due to Newell's limited income, he will not have to pay a victim surcharge.
He is ordered to forfeit all devices where the child sexual abuse material was found, submit a DNA sample and will be listed on the national sex offender registry.
RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES
There are many organizations in Canada working to fight online child sexual exploitation. Find resources here.
These are some signs that a child is maybe being targeted:
- Talks about a new friend you haven't heard of before
- Are very focused on spending more time online
- Have new things you didn't get them (e.g. gifts, devices, video games, new apps or video game upgrades)
- Are more secretive than usual when you are around
- Uses sexual language they haven't before
- Are more fragile, moody or troubled than usual (even for a teenager)
- Isolates themselves in certain locations in the home more than they would normally (e.g. the bedroom or the bathroom)
- Complains of stomach aches, headaches and trouble sleeping
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event.
The dreams of a 60-year-old beauty contestant come to an abrupt end in Argentina
A 60-year-old woman saw her dreams of becoming the oldest Miss Universe contestant in history melt away in a haze of sequins and selfies Saturday at Argentina’s annual beauty pageant.
2 died in plane crash near Squamish, B.C., police confirm
Two people died after a plane went down in a remote area near Squamish, B.C. on Friday, authorities have confirmed.
Kingston, Ont. tenants fed up with lack of action from landlord over broken floor tiles
Joel Felder and Misti Pitcher have been living in their apartment in Kingston, Ont. for over two years, but the past 12 months have been miserable.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Are you a loud snorer? You could have sleep apnea
You'll have a lot more energy throughout the day if you get a good night's sleep, but not everyone does due to a medical condition.
At least 15 dead after severe weather carves path of ruin across multiple U.S. states in the South
Powerful storms killed at least 15 people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
North Korea informs Japan of a plan to launch military spy satellite
North Korea has told Japan it plans to launch a satellite by early next week, an apparent effort to put its second military spy satellite into orbit.