Sentencing delayed for child porn collector Millington

Convicted child pornography collector Troy Millington has changed his mind about requesting a pre-sentence report, delaying his hearing until at least the second week of July.

Millington was supposed to be in Court of Queen’s Bench Thursday for sentencing submissions on charges of making child pornography available to others and possessing and accessing such material.

Instead, he made a failed application to have a court-ordered lawyer provided for his sentencing hearing. He also asked Justice Kim Nixon to order a pre-sentence report to be prepared by probation.

Millington had earlier said he didn’t require a probationary report, which will detail his personal circumstances for the court.

But he told Nixon he is no longer concerned about his safety at the Calgary Remand Centre, so he is willing to stay there to get the report completed.

In court last week, Millington said he would seek a mistrial if Nixon denied him his application for a court-ordered lawyer to make sentencing representations on his behalf.

But after her ruling, Millington did not ask for a mistrial.

Nixon agreed with Department of Justice lawyer Christopher Ghesquiere that Millington’s request should fail for the so-called Rowbotham application — the procedure necessary to seek a courtordered lawyer once Legal Aid has turned you down.

“I agree with counsel for the Attorney General,” Nixon said. “It is not necessary for a fair process.”

She said Millington has been provided the necessary materials at the Calgary Remand Centre, including a booklet of cases produced by the Crown, in order to argue his sentencing hearing.

Millington also repeated his urging to be released on bail so he can better research his sentencing submissions, but Nixon denied his application.

“I’m unrepresented, behind bars,” Millington said.

“That is dramatically unfair; let me out or please get me counsel,” he said.

Millington was convicted of the three charges by a Calgary jury on April 27.

At that time Nixon ordered his bail revoked and he was taken into custody.

Jurors disbelieved his claim that he collected thousands of images and videos of child pornography over several years in a bid to develop a computer program that would rid the internet of such material.

Crown prosecutor Jenny Rees has indicated she will be seeking a sentence in the five- to seven-year range for Millington, who unsuccessfully ran for the Alberta Party leadership in 2013.

A date for his sentencing hearing will be set next week.