Winnipeg man sentenced to 15 years in child prostitution ring case

WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for running an escort agency where girls as young as 14 were given drugs and sold for sex.

Darrell Ackman was found guilty in March of 14 charges, including living off the avails of prostitution.

Justice Chris Martin said Ackman has not shown any remorse or accepted responsibility for his crimes.

“All of the victims were ripe to be taken advantage of and Mr. Ackman did this with gusto,” Martin said Friday in Court of Queen’s Bench.

“He’s somewhat of an enigma, a puzzle,” he said. “It appears he has some form of personality disorder.”

Ackman, who once ran as an independent candidate in a Manitoba byelection, showed no emotion when the sentence was handed down.

With time served factored in he is to spend 10 years and eight months behind bars.

Court heard police started investigating Ackman in 2012 after spotting online ads and some self-promotional videos on YouTube in which he called himself “MrJetz TV.”

He was arrested when he offered the sexual services of two teenage girls to an officer who was part of an undercover police operation.

Seven alleged victims came forward. The youngest was 14 at the time.

Ackman, who acted as his own lawyer during his trial, said he was the true victim of a malicious campaign against him by police and justice officials.

During the investigation police seized computer equipment, which included explicit sexual videos.

Some of these videos were played for jurors during the trial. (CJOB, The Canadian Press)