More jail time was added on Monday for a Sylvan Lake man who has spent time in remand awaiting disposition of Internet luring and child pornography charges.
Provincial court Judge Monica Bast sentenced Jay Edward Totman, 27, to an additional nine and two-thirds months in jail, followed by three years of probation, on top of the four months he spent in remand after fleeing the jurisdiction to Ontario last fall. The four months is equivalent to eight months based on a generally accepted formula by the courts of two for one credit.
Special prosecutor Jennifer Rees of Calgary said later that the sentence shows that Alberta is getting tough on child pornography and is handing down some of the stiffest sentences in Canada for the various crimes.
Bast had reserved her sentence after Totman pleaded guilty a few weeks ago to luring a child on the Internet, possession of child pornography, failing to appear in court for a trial and breaching conditions of a release by fleeing to Ontario.
Rees said earlier Totman’s offences were “truly predatory.”
She said the Crown had a strong case because Totman was caught on a web camera performing a sexual act for someone who he thought was a 12-year-old girl on June 23, 2007.
Totman’s name is now placed on a Canada-wide sex offender registry and he can’t be alone or near any place where a child aged 16 or less is reasonably expected to be present.
Totman also told the girl he wanted to meet her for sex and would pay for a bus ticket.
The girl turned out to be a Saskatchewan policeman who chatted on the web with Totman, who pretended to be a 16-year-old.
Rees said Parliament considers the crimes against children so serious that it has raised the maximum sentence in 2007 for Internet luring to 10 years in jail.
Totman must also, surrender a sample of his DNA to authorities.
Defence lawyer Bryan Shantz argued earlier for a nine-to-12-month sentence.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com