Millington seeks release to prepare for sentencing
Convicted child pornography collector Troy Millington wants out of remand so he can fight efforts to put him in prison for a long time.
Millington told Justice Kim Nixon he can’t do any legal research while incarcerated at the Calgary Remand Centre pending an unscheduled sentencing hearing in his case.
“I’m going through this process completely unrepresented and I think that raises some questions about the fairness of the process,” Millington said Tuesday.
“I don’t have the ability to prepare effectively.”
Crown prosecutor Jenny Rees said that in past cases, convicted offenders have been given access to computers at the remand centre and Millington should be no different.
Rees told Nixon she will propose a sentence in the five- to sevenyear range when submissions are made in the case.
Millington was convicted by a jury last week on three charges of making child pornography available to others, and possessing and accessing the illicit material.
Rees also said Nixon will have to determine what facts the jury relied on to find Millington guilty of the charges.
She said the Court of Queen’s Bench judge should find jurors completely rejected Millington’s claim he collected thousands of images and videos of child pornography to do research into finding a way to eradicate it from the internet. Millington said he wanted to use his expertise in computer programming to develop an algorithm to prevent people accessing child pornography on the web.
Nixon adjourned the case to May 11, to determine if the remand centre can accommodate Millington’s need to do sentencing research and to allow him to decide if he wishes a pre-sentence report to be ordered. After Millington’s conviction, Nixon ordered his bail revoked. He remains in custody.