B.C.’s high court has rejected an Abbotsford man’s appeal of a sentence to a year behind bars after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
Abbotsford Provincial Court Judge Danielle Dunn said it was not only the amount of material that was an aggravating factor in the case but also that Caleb Janzen had a recent sentence for accessing child pornography.
“Mr. Janzen was under supervision of a conditional sentence order and a probation order for 24 months and the offence he plead guilty to arises mere months after he is no longer under supervision,” Dunn said in her May 1 decision.
The judge noted: “The exploitation of children that goes into the creation of child pornography has led to it being referred to in Canadian case law and social science research as ‘child sexual abuse materials.’”
Dunn said the investigation that led police to Janzen started with United States Homeland Security in June of 2022.
There, Dunn said, it was determined that child sexual abuse materials were sent to an email address on a variety of dates in 2022.
“Caleb Janzen was identified as the subscriber for this email with a billing address . . . in Abbotsford,” Dunn said.
The appeal
B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Joyce Dewitt-Van Oosten, writing for the unanimous, three-judge appeal panel, said the conviction was Janzen’s second for the same offence.
She said the Crown and the defence had presented Dunn with a joint submission for a conditional sentence of two years less one day and 18 months’ probation.
“The judge rejected the joint submission and sentenced (Janzen) to 12 months’ conventional imprisonment and three years’ probation,” Dewitt-Van Oosten said in the newly released July 18 appeal ruling.
Janzen had asserted Dunn erred in principle by failing to adhere to the mandated approach for departing from a joint submission.
Dewitt-Van Oosten, however, said there was no error that impacted the sentence. She said judges retain the discretion to depart from Crown and defence joint submissions.
“After considering the circumstances, [Dunn] concluded that because of the second conviction, volume of material, and a moderate to high risk to re-offend, a community-based disposition would bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” Dewitt-Van Oosten said.
The justice said there was no basis for the appeal court to interfere with Dunn’s decision.
Search warrant
Execution of a search warrant led to data being found on seized iPhones.
“On Nov. 9, 2022, 93 images were extracted from this phone consistent with the definition of child pornography in the Criminal Code,” Dunn said.
Dunn said the images showed children being sexually abused.
These images are beyond disturbing,” Dunn said.
“These victims may be unknown but they are out there somewhere.”
