By Patrick Burles @Patrick Burles on Twitter and Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff

Child porn evidence presented in sex assault trial of Coaldale man

Nov 15, 2018 | 3:46 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Dozens of images of child pornography were found on two cellphones and a laptop seized from a home where sexual assault suspect Trevor Philip Pritchard lived, according to expert testimony at Court of Queen’s Bench in Lethbridge Thursday, Nov. 15.

Days three and four in the judge alone trial of the Coaldale man accused of sex crimes involving teenage girls – which is scheduled to run for three weeks – focussed solely on the charge against him of possession of child pornography.

In addition to that charge, Pritchard faces one count of sexual assault and two counts of child luring.

The evidence presented involved extensive reviews of electronic devices seized from Pritchard’s home by police.

Calgary-based forensic expert Ossi Haataja testified that he was asked to do an analysis beginning Jan. 31, 2017, on 10 devices including cellphones, thumb drives, a game console and a laptop computer he received in relation to the investigation. Of the 10 devices analysed, three were found to have potential evidence on them.

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Data extractions using two different methods were used, depending on whether Haataja was able to access the phones through a confirmed password, or through a process called “chip extraction” where the memory card on a phone was manually removed and read through specialized software.

The defense admitted that the images presented as part of evidence in court were child pornography, however they did not admit to being in possession of the offending material.

On the first cell phone examined, three movies and two images of child pornography were found.

On the second cell phone, Haataja found identical user names, emails and accounts as contained on the first phone, and five images that were confirmed to be child pornography. The phone also contained two images of a male with two tattoos, posing in a ‘selfie’ style, that he believed to be Pritchard.

Upon examining the laptop, Haataja testified next, that he made a copy of the hard drive and found another 33 images of child porn.

Haataja concluded his testimony indicating that he believed the same person used all three devices, based on the types of messages, photos, user names, social media account information and pictures of alleged victims found during analysis.

During cross examination, Pritchard’s lawyer, William Wister, offered a view into a potential defence.

He questioned Haataja as to his knowledge of any vulnerabilities that Facebook may have had in 2016 or 2017, which may have led to some user accounts being compromised. While Haataja noted he was aware of some issues through the media, he said he believed the user of the three devices was responsible for the activity he discovered.

According to police, the two alleged victims came forward after Pritchard was charged in relation to another matter, which he later pleaded guilty to. He is currently seeking to withdraw those guilty pleas.

Pritchard entered the guilty pleas in April, admitting that he met the victim online. Then, in January of 2017, she agreed to meet him in person, believing that he would take her to a job interview. Pritchard instead took the girl to his home in Coaldale, where he sexually assaulted her. After, he drove her home and said he would kill her if she told anyone.

Following the guilty pleas, the Crown stated they would be seeking a dangerous offender designation for Pritchard, which could see him imprisoned indefinitely. Not long after, he dismissed his legal counsel, hired Wister, and launched an application to strike his guilty pleas.

Pritchard has four convictions for sexually assaulting adolescent girls in 2004, 2009, 2010, and 2018.