#Ex-Canadian soldier avoids jail time for child porn due to PTSD

A former Canadian soldier who urged his girlfriend to send him explicit photos of her 5-year-old son will serve no jail time because post-traumatic stress disorder was the “triggering factor” for him to seek out child porn, a judge ruled.

A judge in British Columbia said in a ruling last week that the case of the 60-year-old man who retired as a chief warrant officer had “truly exceptional circumstances” while sentencing the man to 18 months of house arrest, CBC reports.

The vet of 33 years — who was not identified to protect the child’s identity — pleaded guilty to collecting 811 photos of child pornography on his personal devices between February and April 2017. He also texted his girlfriend about how they could sexually victimize the woman’s young son, prompting her to send him graphic photos of the child over a three-month span, according to the ruling.

But Judge Mayland McKimm disagreed with prosecutors who sought up to 10 months in jail, saying the actions of the ex-soldier, who has serious health conditions, were set off by his PTSD.

“In sum, we are dealing with an individual who, for a relatively brief period of time, dabbled in the dark and odious world of child pornography and pedophilia,” McKimm said. “It was not a sustained and committed sexual practice.”

The former soldier was deployed to seven combat tours in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Somalia and the Golan Heights in the Middle East, the Times Colonist reports.

“The accused suffered from PTSD as a result of his service to his country,” McKimm said. “Those who suffer from PTSD often turn to dangerous and risk-seeking behaviors to combat the awful symptoms they suffer.”

While deployed at sea in 2017 as a reserve member of the Royal Canadian Navy, the boy’s mother started sending him explicit texts and photos of her son, the newspaper reports.

Eight months later, the boy’s father found the images and texts on the man’s iPad and called cops, the Times Colonist reports.

The mother’s case is still pending, according to the newspaper.

The former soldier, who was arrested in December 2017, was also sentenced to two years of probation and must register as a sex offender for 20 years, CBC reports.