P.G. man pleads guilty

(News) Friday, 25 January 2008, 00:49 PST
PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff

A former Prince George man who pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography was sentenced Thursday to two weeks in jail.

Kristan Hayes Ahola, now a Nanaimo resident, will serve the sentence on weekends at a regional correctional centre on the Island.

Three years of probation will follow.

On March 6, 2006, Ahola was arrested during an international sting and charged with possession of child pornography images, and possession of child pornography images for the purpose of distribution.

Some time earlier a man in Edmonton had been charged with sexual assault of two children aged six and nine. He had placed images of that assault on a web chat room. The police followed up on everyone using that chat room, and located Ahola, said Prince George provincial court judge B.L. Dollis. He had not previously come to the attention of police in any way, the judge noted.

Police obtained and executed a search warrant on his home and located hundreds of images, some still and some video.

The Crown said there is no evidence Ahola created material or introduced new viewers to it, other than sharing it in a chat room. "I note he was not selling his material, as happens in some cases," the judge said. "I am told his material depicted sexual abuse of minor children, predominantly female, by adult males. Crown said the material is not sadistic, in the sense it does not depict maiming or wounding of children."

On Nov. 6, 2007, Ahola entered a guilty plea to simple possession of child pornography. Sentencing submissions were heard last Friday, and Dollis reserved her decision until today.

Being arrested was like a bolt out of the blue for Ahola, she said. The Crown stated he demonstrated remorse from the time of his arrest and admitted he had a problem, the judge said in her sentencing statement.

Ahola was sexually assaulted as a child between the ages of about two and eight. He never received any counselling in relation to that abuse until charged with the two child-pornography offences in 2006. At some stage in his youth he became addicted to pornography, court heard.

As a result of the charges against him, Ahola and his common-law wife were forced to sell their home and leave Prince George. Public reaction to the charges included notes on the door to their home, what defence counsel David Jenkins called "parades and demonstrations" in front of their home, and threats, Dollis said.

When he addressed the court last Friday, Ahola expressed sincere shame and remorse and apologized to all children around the world who have been affected by the production and use of child pornography. "He said that, as a new parent, he understands why other parents were upset by his charges," the judge said.

Ahola, 30, may not own a computer or any mobile device allowing Internet access, and he may not access the Internet under any other circumstances. He is banned from owning firearms or any other weapons. He is prohibited from going to any public park, school grounds, day care, swimming pool or any other location where children under 14 are likely to be present unless someone over 25 is with him who has been approved by a probation officer.

He must complete any counselling directed by a probation officer.

The sentence was a joint submission of the Crown and defence.