Souris man sentenced to 1 year jail for possession of child pornography

A man from Souris, P.E.I.,has been sentenced to one year in jail for possession of child pornography.

Jacob John Beckerpleaded guilty and was sentenced on Friday morning, at P.E.I. Supreme Court.

Court heard that RCMP found more than 500files on the 72-year-old'shome computer most of the files werevideos of young girls under 15, engaged in pornographic acts, that he had downloaded from an internet site.

"This is a crime of enormous gravity, for the victims and for society as a whole," Crown prosecutor Nathan Beck told court. "And sentences should reflect that."

Police tracked Becker's online activity after his computer address was linked to a known child-porn website.

Court heard Becker, 72, is in poor health and describes himself as a loner. He moved back to P.E.I. a few years ago after living most of his life in Alberta.

These children are somebody's daughter. Justice Nancy Key

At one point, Becker told investigators he downloaded the images to protect his granddaughter. The judge commented on that as she handed down Becker's sentence.

"How would you feel if you clicked on an image and saw your granddaughter?" said Justice Nancy Key. "These children are somebody's daughter and somebody's granddaughter.Every time an image is viewed, these children become victims over again."

Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern told court Becker now takes full responsibility for what he did.Becker chose not to speak before sentence was handed down.

Becker was arrested in January. The RCMPinternet child exploitation unit had been tracking Becker's online activity since last fall.

In addition to one year in jail, Becker was sentenced to three years on probation.

Becker's name is now on the national sex offender registry and he's been ordered to stay off computers, and stay away from children after he gets out of jail.

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