Former Hay River track star pleads guilty to child porn and luring charges

A 23-year-old Hay River man has pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and other charges.

Joel Gordon entered the pleas through his lawyer in a Yellowknife courtroomMonday. In addition to the child pornography charge, he admitted to child luring and extortion.

The former track star was facing 22 charges, includingpossessing child pornography, threatening to distribute nude photos of young girls, exposing his genitals, distributing sexual materials to minors and making threats via text message.

• Hay River track star facing more child porn-related charges

Gordon earned a silver medal for the N.W.T. at the Canada Summer Games in 2013.

He was not present in court to plead guilty, but N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Karan Shaner allowed his lawyer, Jay Bran, to enter the pleason his behalf.

According to Bran, Gordon is living in Edmonton with his family, who is responsible for him while he's on bail. Gordon is not allowed to return to Hay River unless he needs to for court. If he does return, he is required to report to Hay River RCMP.

Gordon continues to be barred from possessing any electronic devices with access to the internet and he is not allowed to visit any parks or pools where children under the age of 16 might be present.

Bran told the court that none of Gordon's victims want to give a victim impact statement. This factored into the decision to sentence him in Yellowknife rather than Hay River.

Gordon is scheduled to be sentenced in N.W.T Supreme Court Jan. 8.