Man who fled province to the U.S. jailed 52 months for possession of child porn

For getting caught with child pornography in South Dakota, Benjamin Martin Moore was handed a prison sentence in months that matched his age in years.

The 52-year-old man, who absconded across the U.S. border with his spouse and two children, which prompted an Amber Alert in August 2022, was sentenced Friday in Rapid City, S.D.

The 52-month sentence imposed by Chief Judge Roberto Lange of the United States District Court followed a guilty plea from Moore to the charge brought against him by U.S. authorities.

The sentence Lange delivered came in under the 63 months requested by U.S. Attorney Sarah Collins, but is considerably longer than suggestions of federal public defender Thomas Diggins, which began as low as 23 months.

Collins said the nature of some of the material that Moore pleaded guilty to possessing was “truly horrific,” and depicted “torture.” She raised concerns about how the U.S. system deals with previous convictions entered in other countries. Moore has previous Canadian convictions, including for possession of child pornography.

It was noted that Moore still faces charges in Canada (breaching a weapons prohibition and failing to report a change of address as required by the Sex Offender Information Registration Act).

The government lawyer said she hopes the Canadian justice system takes into account Moore’s conviction in the U.S.

In considering Collins’ arguments, Lange posed a few questions, including a hypothetical about a potential defence argument against sentencing Moore, a Canadian, to a lengthy prison term since incarcerating someone in the U.S. costs the taxpayers nearly $50,000 per year. However, he later noted there’s no guidance to suggest a court should consider cost. Collins responded that she could not think of a better use of U.S. taxpayer funds, noting that Canadian officials had been “frank” with her in saying they did not believe Moore would serve much time if he’s convicted upon his return to Canada.

She said a sentence on the high end of the range of 51-63 months, in keeping with the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines, would be appropriate for the man she called a proven, repeated predator.

“Canada is not a lawless nation,” Diggins said in response to the notion that Canada would sentence Moore harshly.

Canada’s crime rate is lower than that of the U.S., he added — a point acknowledged by Lange.

Diggins argued that in addition to the cost to U.S. taxpayers, his client claimed his medical issues weren’t being dealt with as well as they would have been in Canada with its public health care system.

Diggins made some technical arguments about duplicates among the illicit materials, and seemed to reject a submission made by Collins that Moore was “blaming his wife” for his being in possession of certain material. His client was taking responsibility for the offence, he said.

However, he said Moore believes some of the “medical” images depicting child genitals may have ended up on his phone after his wife did a Google search after hearing a pregnant friend suspected her child may have a rare disease.

Further, Diggins said Moore had also said it was his wife’s idea for the group to come to the U.S., though the defence lawyer acknowledged his client’s travel wasn’t the reason he was in court. Canadian parole documents show Moore has, in the past, sought to blame a spouse for his troubles, once telling a woman his status as a registered sex offender was the fault of an angry wife who had lied.

There was no evidence that Moore was a “collector” of child pornography, Diggins said. It’s “unfortunate” that he’s in “similar trouble” again, he said, adding he’s hopeful Moore will be more careful with internet use going forward. There were no allegations Moore was harming his own children, Diggins told the judge in response to a question.

“He has not escaped punishment,” Diggins said, at one point suggesting a “time served” sentence of 23 months might be sufficient, but later asked the judge to consider something in the range of 35 months.

Moore himself told the judge he just wants to go home, as he’s the “sole breadwinner” for his family and he wants to continue to provide.

Court heard he holds a master’s degree in divinity from Briercrest College and Seminary in Saskatchewan, and has been conducting Bible studies while imprisoned in the U.S.

In a statement about sentencing principles, Lange called Moore’s offence a “terrible crime,” adding that it’s “rare” to see an offender convicted of a second offence of that kind. He spoke of the need for deterrence and for the child pornography market to be “blunted to stop the exploitation of children.”

The judge noted Moore will receive credit for time already served. Five years of supervision and a list of conditions will follow his release from prison, but Lange said the expectation is that he will be extradited at that time.