Father jailed for graphic texts involving young daughter

A Thorold man who authored multiple sexually-explicit text messages regarding his young daughter will spend the next six months behind bars after being convicted of possession of child pornography.

“Words matter,” Crown attorney Michal Sokolski said in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Friday.

“Whether it’s a fantasy or not, it normalizes sexual behaviour toward children or sexual contact with children.”

The 45-year-old father of five, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban imposed to protect the identity of the child, was sentenced to six months in custody after he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography.

“These are words that constitute child pornography, but they are much more than simple horrific fantasies,” Judge Andrew Brown said.

“It normalizes criminal behaviour, which is the most abnormal kind of thought process that we can consider in our community. The potential harm is real.”

The Niagara Regional Police internet child exploitation unit launched an investigation in November 2022 after receiving a complaint. An investigation determined the defendant had authored multiple text messages and sent them to several women he had been chatting with on social media.

The graphic texts, court was told, described explicit sexual scenarios involving his daughter.

“It troubles me tremendously that a father of several children would create this perverse fantasy world and send it out there for others to consume,” the judge said.

After his arrest, police investigated further and determined there was no evidence the father had acted out his fantasies.

The offender was also placed on probation. The man’s name will appear on the national sex offender registry for the next 20 years.

The man’s name will appear on the national sex offender registry for the next 20 years