Child pornography charges lead to jail time

By Delon Shurtz on July 10, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 42-year-old southern Alberta man caught last year with pictures and videos of child pornography, has been sent to a federal penitentiary.
Stephen Roger Waldorf of Coleman was sentenced Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to two years in prison on one count of possession of child pornography, an offence to which he pleaded guilty during a previous court hearing in front of Judge Kristin Ailsby.
Ailsby said the images – more than 200 of them – “is not insignificant,” and she agreed with the Crown and defence joint submission for two years. She also recommended Waldorf serve his sentence in the Bowden Institution, a medium security facility south of Red Deer.
Waldorf was arrested May 6 of last year after a Calgary police officer with the the Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit began an onliine investigation and identified a computer he believed was sharing child pornography with other users. The officer traced the computer to Waldorf and was able to download 235 files directly from the suspect’s computer. The files contained 204 videos and 31 images, of which 176 of the files met the definition of child pornography.
The videos and images show children – mostly girls – as young as four years old who are being sexually assaulted by adults or are engaged in sexual acts with each other.
Waldorf was charged with distributing child pornography, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography, but he ultimately pleaded guilty to the possession charge. The other charges were withdrawn Thursday.
Waldorf co-operated with investigators and admitted the offences, but was unable to explain why he looked at child pornography.
“I can’t tell you that, I don’t have a rational reason,” he said during his statement to police.
Crown Prosecutor Sarah Goard-Baker listed several aggravating factors in the case, one of which was the duration of the offences between November 2018 and May 2019.”
“This was a prolonged pattern of behaviour,” she said.
She noted Waldorf had downloaded a significant number of files and was was sharing the videos and images with others. She also pointed out that every incident of child pornography is actually child abuse, and has a lifelong impact on its victims.
In mitigation, however, Goard-Baker noted Waldorf pleaded guilty, is remorseful, and is taking steps to deal with his addictions.
Lethbridge lawyer Darcy Shurtz told court his client failed to understand the harmful impact his offences have on children, but he has since received counseling and will continue to take counseling, even in prison, to help overcome some of the challenges in his life and help with his rehabilitation.
In addition to his prison sentence, Waldord will be on probation for two years following his release, and he must submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank. He will also be registered with the Sex Offender Information Registry for 20 years.

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