Child sex offender awaits sentence
Welland man guilty of charges including making child pornography
A Welland man who pleaded guilty to several child-sex related offences involving a teenage boy he met through an online dating app says he’s not a sexual predator.
“I have no sexual attraction to children,” the 27-year-old said. “I am not a pedophile.”
Both the prosecutor and defence lawyer described the sexual interaction between the man and a 14-year-old boy as consensual, however, the legal age of consent is 16.
“I was taught that age is just a number,” the man told the judge.
“Sometimes, it is an illegal number,” Judge Cameron Watson replied.
The man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, pleaded guilty in May 2019 to several charges including making child pornography and making available explicit material to a person under the age of 16.
He returned to Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Wednesday for sentencing.
The Crown is seeking a fiveyear penitentiary sentence, saying the young man groomed and sexually exploited the teenager. Defence counsel Jeff Root argued his client’s guilty plea is a demonstration of contrition and remorse. He said a sentence of between 12 and 18 months would be an appropriate penalty.
“He will be under scrutiny for the rest of his life, he understands that,” Root told the judge. “The stigma associated with this particular matter is not going to go away.”
Court was told the defendant, who had no previous criminal record, and the teenager met in 2017 using Grindr, a social networking and online dating application. The two met face-toface for the first time in July 2017 and engaged in sexual activity.
The defendant also recorded a video of a sexual act to “keep as a prize,” said assistant Crown attorney Pat Vadacchino.
While awaiting sentencing on the original charges, the man was arrested for breaching his bail conditions after authorities learned he had started a relationship with a Niagara Falls man who had three young children. He was under a court order not to communicate with anyone under 18.
He was released on bail but arrested again a few months later for violating a court order following a visit to a movie theatre. The victim’s family contacted police to report the teen was at a movie theatre when the offender sat down next to him.
The judge will deliver his decision Feb. 4.