Child porn lands man 18 months in jail

KITCHENER — A Cambridge man who police said coached minor hockey in Waterloo Region for decades was handcuffed and led off to jail on Wednesday after he was caught with thousands of child pornography images and videos.

Robert Chislette, 69, was sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to making child pornography available and possession of child pornography.

He was one of dozens of people arrested across the province in 2016 as part of an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into online child pornography.

At the time of Chislette’s arrest, Waterloo Regional Police said he had coached children about 12 years old in hockey for 30 years, but his coaching background apparently was not raised in court.

On Chislette’s computer, police found 3,500 child pornography images and 2,100 videos.

When Chislette was arrested, police said he had used a social network with links to child pornography and shared the links with an undercover police officer.

Chislette was ordered to take assessment and treatment of pedophilic behaviour and is banned from contacting anyone under 16 unless supervised by a family member who knows of his crimes.

He also can’t access internet chat rooms or social networking sites.

The months-long OPP investigation resulted in 274 charges against 80 people.

The OPP collaborated with the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, United States Homeland Security and 26 municipal police services across Ontario, including Waterloo Regional Police.

“The most fundamental responsibility of any society is to protect our children. Every child has the right to be nurtured and to be safe,” OPP Chief Supt. Don Bell said after the arrests.

“Every image of child pornography represents a child victim. Every trading or transmission of that image represents a revictimization of that child.”