A former Blackfalds man has been sentenced to four years in prison on child pornography and luring charges.
Brian Collin Haberman, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of luring, making child pornography, possessing child pornography and breach of a court order in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday.
Haberman was arrested in fall 2015 by the Internet Child Exploitation Unit of the province’s Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams.
It was alleged that Haberman travelled to Pennsylvania to have sex with a 16-year-old girl he met online when she was 15. A tip through www.cybertip.ca, Canada’s tip line for online sexual exploitation of children, led authorities to Haberman.
Sexually explicit photos of his victim were found when his computers and electronic devices were searched.
After he was released on a variety of conditions, including have no contact with any minor, he was arrested and charged with further child pornography-related charges. His female victim in this case lived in Oregon and Haberman was accused of being in contact with her from the beginning of January 2014 to April 2016.
The Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer made a joint submission for a four-year sentence, which was accepted by Judge Jim Hunter.
“The gravity of these offences is certainly high,”said Hunter.
Audio from a victim impact statement was played in court prior to sentencing. The victim said she now faces recurring nightmares and has ongoing trust issues.
Hunter ordered that on release from prison Haberman have no contact with anyone under the age of 16 and have no access to social networking sites or communications apps for 15 years. He must also stay away from places where children are commonly found.
Haberman, who most recently lived in Saskatchewan, will also be registered for life as a sex offender and must provide a sample of his DNA to a national database.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com