A Penticton man caught sharing photos of his underage daughter with an online child pornography community is facing time behind bars. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography after sending 13 images of his stepdaughter in a state of undress to an undercover police officer. He took the images using battery-powered spy cameras installed in the bathroom and captured the shower and toilet, as well as other areas of the house, for two years. The child was between 12 and 15 years old at the time the images were taken. The undercover officer asked the man to prove the images were original by taking a photo holding up three fingers next to a unique striped shower curtain seen in some of the photos, which he did. The man also bragged to the undercover officer about sexual acts he had carried out in the child’s clothes. A subsequent legal search of the man’s estate revealed hundreds of child pornography images and numerous videos on his electronic devices. Some were his stepdaughter’s, others were unidentified children. Crown counsel Ann Lerchs asked Judge Gordon Funt on Tuesday to sentence the man to up to 3.5 years in prison. No victim impact statement was filed, but Lerchs reported the child is doing well in counseling. Justice Funt heard more from Lerchs in court on Wednesday, but the matter was not concluded. Lerchs pointed to significant aggravating factors in the case, including that the man shared the photos and videos with many members of the online community and that he also distributed photos of multiple victims. He noted that it is unknown how many people the man shared the images and videos with and how far they have spread beyond that, which could have a negative impact on the victim’s mental health in the future. Justice Funt will hear from the man’s lawyer, James Pennington, on Thursday morning before handing down his sentence.
