Porn | Man Jailed 3 Years For Child Porn

SYDNEY " A 64-year-old Cape Breton man has been sentenced to three years in prison following one of the largest seizures of child pornography in Nova Scotia.

David Archibald of Ingonish Beach was facing more than 250 charges but pleaded guilty Wednesday to 36 counts " 21 of making child porn. 14 of distributing and a single count of possession.

The charges were laid in May after a 20-month RCMP investigation that was triggered by an alert from U.S. police. American authorities received information from Microsoft that one of its Canadian users was uploading child porn to a shared drive.

Prosecutor Rick Hartlen told the court that police seized more than 100 videos and nearly 3,000 images from Archibald's computer and flash drive.

He said Archibald co-operated fully with police and gave a detailed statement outlining his crimes.

"With great shame, I must plead guilty to all charges," Archibald said when asked by the provincial court judge to enter pleas.

Archibald is prohibited for life from being around areas where children under 16 are likely to gather, such as playgrounds, parks and community pools.

He is to be a registered sex offender for the next 20 years and is to supply a DNA sample to the national registry. He must also forfeit all computer equipment seized as part of the investigation.

"From what I've seen, Mr. Archibald has a strong interest in girls between the ages of 10 to 14," said Hartlen.

The seized images, he said, ran the spectrum in terms of depravity and Archibald had contact with about 81 other Internet account holders with whom he would share and receive images.

Under Canadian law, the charge of making child porn relates to any manipulation of an item deemed to be child porn. Hartlen explained that could be simply changing the size of the photo and then passing it on.

The Crown, defence and Archibald himself all stressed that he never had any physical contact with any young person and that he did not create any of the initial images.

Hartlen said Archibald held several Internet addresses and created several different profiles for himself, including one as a young girl.

In some emails, Hartlen said Archibald would encourage some young girls to explore different sexual experiences and then report back to him. In another contact, Archibald appeared to be encouraging a 14-year-old to have sexual relations with her father.

"He was not motivated by financial gain but motivated entirely by a twisted sexual desire," said Hartlen.

In attempting to explain his actions, Archibald said his curiosity led to an obsession and resulted in an addiction.