A Bracebridge man will be spending several years behind bars after he was arrested with nearly 1,000 images of child pornography.
This week Paul Clarke, 57, was sentenced for possession of child pornography and failing to report for the sex offender registry (known as Christopher’s Law).
Clarke pleaded guilty earlier in the month but was sentenced on Tuesday. He appeared virtually from custody.
Following an investigation in 2020, police were able to track down an IP address that Clarke has used to download some 964 unique images of child pornography to his cell phone. Justice Ted Carlton gave a general description of the images found, which were horrific in nature, and involved children under the age of 12 and many toddlers under the age of five.
Justice Carlton called the images “grave violations,” that were on the “higher end of the continuum,” when it comes to these types of offences.
He went on to say possession of these types of images creates the market for them and viewing them is a continued violation of those children. He also said the number and nature of the images is aggravating.
Court heard that Clarke was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2003, and of sexual interference and assault in 2009.
Court also heard that Clarke spent many years as a manager in a manufacturing operation and he says he is now receiving counselling and therapy, albeit not for the crimes he has been convicted of specifically.
Justice Carlton sentenced Clarke to 36 months in custody.
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