P.E.I. man jailed 2 years for 'vast quantity' of child porn

An Island man has been sentenced to two years in jail for possession of pornographic pictures of children.

Duane Fenton Fall, 39, of Mayfield pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography.

The man had 55,000images and 1,400videos stored on his computer equipment, according to facts presented in P.E.I. Supreme Court. There was no suggestion in this case that any children on P.E.I. were involved.

"The images are seared in my mind," said ChiefJustice Tracey Clementsat Fall's sentencing hearing July 8 in Charlottetown. Clements told court she viewed a sampling of the images, with a court employee present, as part of her duties in handing down sentence.

"I decline to provide a detailed description to describe the images in detail would essentially amount to a revictimization."

Co-operated with police, no prior record

RCMPmajor crimes and internet child exploitation unit executed a search warrant at Fall's home and seized a laptop, an external hard drive and jump drives. It was the largest collection of child porn images the investigating officer had seen in six years on the job, according to Clements. She accepted the argument of Crown prosecutor Gerald Quinn that the "vast quantity"of images was an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes.

Defence lawyer Conor Mullin told court rehabilitation is possible. Fall co-operated with police after his arrest and had no prior criminal record. Fall has told justiceofficials that he is willing to receiving counselling for sexual deviancy.

He also told justice officials that he had been accessing child pornfor about two years and that he has "social anxiety."Fallspent a "lot of time on the computer playing video games to the point where he would avoid family commitments," according to a family member who was interviewed by justice officials.

Supreme Court of Canada ruling

Sentences for sex crimes against children are increasing, following arecent ruling by the Supreme Count of Canada, according to Clements.

"There should be an upward departure from prior precedents," wrote Clements in a 22-page written decision that accompanied her sentencing of Fall.

"For so many of us, the very notion of child pornography is horrific, traumatizing and absolutely repugnant."

Fall will be on probation for three years after he gets out of jail, and he is ordered to stay away from people under 16.His name will be added to the national sex offender registry.

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