A Sicamous man who is charged with possession of child pornography said he collected the images as part of a plan to frame a man who abused him.
Duane Denis Redekopp, 46, appeared in Provincial Court in Salmon Arm on Dec. 3, where lawyers for the Crown and defence provided their sentencing submissions to Judge Dennis Morgan.
A date will be set next week for the judge to sentence Redekopp.
“My client was trying to frame somebody else, it goes way back in his life to when he was sexually abused. That’s what he was going to do,” defence lawyer Ian McTavish told the court.
The offence dates back to Jan. 29, 2018 in Sicamous, when Redekopp was found to be in possession of hundreds of images of prepubescent males. He pleaded guilty in April last year but there have been several delays in the court proceedings.
McTavish referred to a doctor’s letter, stating that Redekopp’s partner is very ill with heart disease and lung cancer. Because she depends heavily on Redekopp for daily living, he said he would be seeking a “non-custodial” sentence, one not served in jail.
Referring to case law, Crown counsel Alison Buchanan said sentences for possession of child pornography generally range from six to 12 months jail time followed by two years’ probation.
She said at odds with the large collection of images and videos seized is Redekopp’s denial of having a sexual attraction to such images. She said the number of images and videos, as well as his criminal history, contribute to the risk of re-offending.
Redekopp was convicted of fraud from a government ministry in 2011.
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Judge Morgan said he thinks it’s the wrong path to focus on the size of a collection. He referred to a point that a defence lawyer had made, that each time an image is viewed, the child depicted in the image is re-victimized. He said if there is a small collection – yet 40 or 50 or 60 children are still victimized, why would that merit a lower sentence.
McTavish spoke at length about Redekopp’s background.
McTavish said he was abused in his youth. He was destructive in kindergarten, evidence that he has had problems from a young age. He used cannabis and alcohol as a young person and, later, crack cocaine. He completed school up to Grade 10 and then completed his GED in Alberta. He and his spouse have been together for 13 years and at the start of their relationship they were heavy users of cocaine. They have worked together to get out of that world, McTavish told the court.
He said Redekop states he has never been involved in sexual offences with anybody, other than being the victim as a child.
McTavish said Redekopp understands this is a very serious matter, he still hasn’t had counselling about the trauma he experienced as a young boy and he’s prepared to do whatever is required to get a better handle on his issues.
@SalmonArm
marthawickett@saobserver.net
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