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Man jailed 18 months for selling child porn

A Delburne man caught selling child pornography via the Internet was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Wednesday.

A Delburne man caught selling child pornography via the Internet was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Wednesday.

Charles Lawrence Ross, 27, pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of child pornography in Red Deer provincial court and was immediately taken into custody following his sentencing.

Offences occurred between Dec. 12, 2007, and April 8, 2008, when he distributed 13 child porn images and five videos.

Police found Ross to be in possession of 700 child porn images. American and Canadian undercover police officers were involved in the case.

Tess Jones, a special prosecutor with the Calgary Crown’s office, told the court that many of the images were highly graphic and the majority of images were of children age six to 12. But some children were far younger.

“Some are as young as infants and some no more than toddlers,” Jones said during her sentencing submission.

Communication with the officers was also “quite disturbing” so she asked for lengthy probation.

Ross is considered a low risk to re-offend.

Judge Thomas Schollie sentenced Ross to 12 months in jail for distribution and six months consecutive for possession, followed by 36 months of probation.

One of the probation conditions is to abstain from using computers or other devices that can access the Internet, including hiring or getting another person to use it for him, or being in the presence of anyone using it. The only exception is if it is required for his employment.

Schollie said he took into account Ross’s early guilty pleas, young age, lack of a criminal record and his prior attempt to seek counselling for his behaviour, which he could not afford.

“That to me is a good sign he will be able to respond (to treatment),” Schollie said.

Ross will be included in Canada’s sex offender registry for 20 years and he must stay away from children’s areas like playgrounds for 10 years.