Crown seeking two years in jail for Penticton child porn case

A Penticton man faces up to two years in jail for possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.

Kenneth Daniel Large faced a sentencing hearing today, Sept. 8, after entering guilty pleas to the two charges in Penticton court.

Crown prosecutor Ann Lerchs told the court Large’s internet address was identified after images of child pornography were uploaded online on Aug. 14, 2018.

RCMP were notified and Penticton RCMP executed a search warrant on Large’s residence on Oct. 30, 2018.

They found numerous items containing images of child porn, including phones, USB drives, USB sticks, CDs and a computer.

Lerchs said the images depicted nude female children from as young as age six, some in sexually suggestive poses.

Police recovered 26,366 images and 424 videos of child porn.

Lerchs said a psychiatric report prepared for Large indicated he became attracted to child porn while viewing adult porn. It soon became a compulsion, to the point he was viewing it three to four hours a day.

Lerchs said Large also exhibited symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder and said he had been assessed as a low to moderate risk to reoffend.

She also noted Large’s OCD did not account for his progression from adult to child porn which she said was “not natural.”

Lerchs said Large entered an early guilty plea in addition to showing a willingness to participate in counselling for his issues, but called the volume of pornographic images and the nature of his collection – many photos of children under eight – aggravating factors.

She asked Judge Gregory Koturbash for a two-year jail term followed by three years’ probation.

Defence lawyer James Pennington argued the law for sentences in these types of cases “hasn’t always been so black and white.”

He said sentencing was a highly individualistic process depending on the severity of the case.

“With mandatory minimums for this crime gone, courts are now considering non-custodial sentences,” Pennington said.

He said his client had taken steps to turn his life around, including undergoing counselling.

He was forced to quit the sessions after running out of funds.

Large, who was born in 1971, lost his job after telling his boss about the charges.

Pennington said Large’s huge collection of porn could be explained by his obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“The explanation for his large collection is he’s a hoarder,” Pennington said.

Pennington asked the judge to consider a conditional sentence order of two years’ less a day and an additional two years’ probation for the crimes.

Large told the court he “deeply apologizes” to his victims, court and society. He promised not to reoffend, begging the court for mercy to allow him to remain isolated in the community with his family.

Judge Koturbash adjourned the matter for further contemplation. A return court date is anticipated in the next couple of weeks.

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