Local child porn maker gets six years

Guy Coutu's "appetite for child pornography" spurred the Sault Ste. Marie man to amass a vast selection of videos and pictures, surreptitiously photograph girls in a washroom and lure a teenaged girl on the Internet to provide him with graphic pictures.

Citing Coutu's escalating behaviour in his growing need to satisfy his addiction to child pornography, Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek sentenced the 53-year-old, second-time child porn offender to prison time for his latest offences.

The judge imposed a six-year sentence Wednesday for voyeurism and five child pornography charges, including making, possessing and disseminating child pornography.

With the credit Kwolek gave him for pre-sentence custody, Coutu faces a further three and a half years behind bars.

In a 14-page written decision, Kwolek noted Coutu wasn't satisfied with simply acquiring images online, but secretly made recordings of girls in a bathroom.

His behaviour then escalated to using drugs and money "to groom" and convince a young girl to provide him with images of herself, as well as a friend and her partner engaged in sex, to produce more child pornography, which he shared on the Internet, Kwolek said.

Prosecutor David Kirk was seeking an eight-year penitentiary term, which with pre-sentence custody, would have amounted to more than 10 years incarceration for Coutu whom he called a "voyeuristic predator." 

Kwolek described the Crown's position as excessive, saying it wasn't justified in law, based on the facts in this case and this offender's circumstances.

Sentences in the range suggested by the Crown normally involve cases of actual sexual abuse, he wrote.

Defence counsel Eric McCooeye had urged the judge to impose a four-year sentence, which with credit for pre-sentence custody would have left the accused with 22 months to serve in a provincial facility, followed by three years probation. 

Kwolek rejected that sentence as inadequate, given Coutu's history of similar offences and the size of his child pornography collection that he had classified into separate files.

It would have taken Coutu a considerable period of time and effort to accumulate the collection, the judge said.

"In addition, the nature of additional offences has been escalated in the offender producing and encouraging a young person to take these nude and sexually explicit photos and videos of herself."

In 2007, Coutu received a 38-month sentence for possession of child pornography, making child pornography available, making surreptitious recordings and breaching bail by having a computer.

He was given credit for 14 months pre-sentence custody, leaving him with two years less a day to serve.

Justice Andrew Buttazzoni decided on that sentence because it permitted him to impose a period of three years probation, which would allow the court to monitor the accused for an extended period of time.

Since Kwolek imposed a sentence greater than two years probation is not an option.

However, he did make a number of orders including a requirement that Coutu register as a sex offender for life.

As well, Coutu is prohibited for life from attending a public park or public swimming area where persons under the age of 16 are present or can reasonably expected to be present, or any daycare centre, school ground, playground or community centre.

The life-time prohibition also bans him from using the Internet and from having contact, by any means, with anyone under 16, except in public, with the direct supervision of an adult who is aware of these offences.

Coutu must also stay 100 metres away from his victims, their residences and any other place they are.