By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Sentencing hearing scheduled for former teacher in child porn case

Oct 9, 2018 | 12:51 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A hearing date has been set for the sentencing of a former elementary school teacher, who admitted to making and possessing child pornography.

Mark Anderson’s lawyer, James Rouleau, appeared in Lethbridge Provincial Court Tuesday, Oct. 9, stating that the FAOS report (Forensic Assessment Outpatient Service) is still being conducted. A key aspect of the report, which was requested by the defence, will be a medical determination of Anderson’s risk of recidivism.

After noting the schedule of the judge who heard Anderson’s guilty pleas and will be tasked with imposing a sentence on him, the matter was adjourned to Dec. 17 for a sentencing hearing.

The 44-year-old Pincher Creek man had been teaching fourth grade at Napi’s Playground Elementary School in Brocket in July of 2017 – a position he has since been terminated from – when Google tipped off the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children about a Gmail account that had uploaded an image of child porn.

Through an investigation, ALERT’s (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit was able to trace the internet address to Anderson’s Pincher Creek home, where they seized a number of electronics and took him into custody. Police also seized electronics from Anderson’s classroom as well.

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During a media availability with police, they stated that the investigation was accelerated as soon as they learned that Anderson was a teacher.

A review of the devices seized – both from his home and classroom – uncovered hundreds of images and some videos of child porn with the children in them ranging in age from three to 16. It was noted that some of the images were duplicates contained on various electronics. They also found that there had been certain file sharing programs on one of the computers at one point, but that they had been deleted and another program had been used to purge the information.

Anderson also provided a statement to police, in which he admitted that he couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t attracted to children.

In regard to the making of child pornography charge, Anderson admitted to hiding a cellphone that obtained two videos of a girl – estimated to be between the ages of 13 and 16 – while she showered.

by Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Sentencing hearing scheduled for former teacher in child porn case

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