Former political hopeful stays behind bars until child-porn sentencing
Former Alberta Party leadership candidate Troy Millington will remain in custody pending his sentencing on child pornography charges, a judge ruled Friday.
Millington asked Justice Kim Nixon to allow him to return to his wife and two children ahead of his sentencing hearing in two weeks. But Nixon agreed with Crown prosecutors that he should remain in custody at the Calgary Remand Centre.
Millington told the Court of Queen’s Bench judge his life has been threatened since he was incarcerated April 27, after a jury found him guilty of three child pornography-related charges.
He said he was even threatened at the Calgary Courts Centre Friday morning before being brought to the courtroom.
“This one person made it very clear over the course of the last two hours precisely what he thought of me and how I should be dealt with,” Millington said.
He said if the threat were carried out “we would have no more conversation, because I would be about six feet under.”
Millington said he wasn’t convinced guards at the Calgary Remand Centre would continue to ensure his safety.
“I fear that there is going to be a slip up ... and I won’t be here to even have this conversation.”
Prosecutor Jenny Rees said the Crown was concerned Millington’s release could put his two young daughters at risk.
“We have some concern with him being alone with his children,” she said.
But the convicted offender said both his wife and daughters want him back.
“They are very clear they would like me home,” he said.
Millington, who was denied legal aid coverage and has represented himself throughout his court appearances, also said that he wasn’t being given adequate access to legal resources at the remand centre.
As a result, Nixon ordered the prosecutors to provide him with all relevant sentencing decisions in Alberta in the area of child pornography.
But she said he’ll have to review those behind bars.
“He will have all of the cases and he will just need a room with pen and paper,” Nixon said.
“I’m going to deny the request for bail,” she said.
“It is the responsibility of the remand centre to ensure your safety.”
Millington, who unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of the Alberta Party in 2013, was convicted of making child pornography available to others online as well as accessing and possessing such material. Jurors rejected his claim he collected thousands of images and videos to determine if he could develop a program to eliminate child pornography from the internet.