Plea deal in complex internet porn case results in two-year conditional sentence

By Medicine Hat News on September 6, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

A Brooks man was handed a two-year conditional sentence Thursday for sharing intimate videos of a female with whom he had a complex relationship involving sex, narcotics and the consensual production of some internet pornography.

The now 45-year-old man will be allowed to serve the sentence in the community under strict conditions, including no contact with the complainant or any one under the age of 18.

Court heard the woman involved was 17 at the time of their meeting in 2019 and they began uploading videos to a popular internet pornography site over a period of time that spanned the woman’s 18th birthday.

After the relationship ended, Brooks RCMP began investigating the complaint that additional material was being released, of which the woman said she had not specifically consented to.

Charges were laid in early 2022.

Defence and prosecution attorneys told Court of Justice in Medicine Hat that the particular dates of the material and levels of consent would be at issue at an expectedly lengthy trail.

A guilty plea to the charge of “publishing intimate images without consent” was tendered while four other more serious charges were dropped, including accusations of assault and unlawful confinement.

“This is serious that consent was not obtained, but under the circumstances there was consent to some of the material,” said Justice Mark Mastel during the sentencing. “It’s a breach of the trust … but (sharing some material) was part of the relationship, as it were. That still doesn’t make better or worse.”

There is a publication ban involving identifying principals in the case.

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