Sentencing on child pornography charges adjourned

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on August 3, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man caught with photos of child pornography will have to wait several months before he is sentenced.

Brandon Axis Casey pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court to one count of possession of child pornography, but sentencing was adjourned to allow time for the preparation of  a pre-sentence report and forensic risk assessment report.

Carolyn Ayre of Specialized Prosecutions in Calgary, told court that the National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children received on its cyber tip line a report from a website that indicated one of its users, who was traced to Lethbridge, had uploaded videos of child sexual abuse. The report and videos were forwarded to the Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit, which searched a westside residence and found child pornography on a cell phone and a hard drive.

The cell phone contained 85 images of child pornography, of which 71 were computer generated and 11 depicted a real child. Although images were also found on the hard drive, as well, Casey was not implicated in that offence.

“Given the findings of the forensic examiners, specifically that the hard drive had not been accessed since Sept. 28, 2010, the Crown is not alleging that Casey had knowledge or control over the child pornography on that device,” Ayre said.

Calgary lawyer Michael Oykhman requested a pre-sentence report and forensic risk assessment report, and the matter was adjourned until Monday to allow time to schedule a sentencing hearing, likely in three or four months. The pre-sentence report typically provides information about an accused’s personal background and circumstances to help the judge render a fit sentence, while the risk assessment attempts to predict the likelihood an individual will re-offend.

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