Hamilton man convicted of child pornography after 7 year old advertised on Craigslist

A 38-year-old Hamilton man was convicted today of making child pornography in the final court case related to the sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl.

He cannot be identified in order to protect the victim, he was a friend of the mother’s boyfriend

5 people have now been convicted of abusing the child repeatedly by her mother’s boyfriend, who also advertised her on Craigslist and invited others to participate in the abuse.

The abuse was discovered when the 7 year old told her father what had been happening for almost a year at her mother’s house. The Catholic Children’s aid society began to investigate.

The girl’s mother’s boyfriend had been recording his abuse of the girl and using the videos on Craigslist to lure other pedophiles.

Police seized more than 100 electronic devices and rounded up 9 people. 5 of them ended up facing charges and all pleaded guilty, except the 38 year old convicted today.

The man did plead guilty to sexual interference, he admitted he abused the little girl only after he learned there was video evidence, and that he was identifiable through his clothing and a distinctive tattoo. But he told the court he didn’t know he was being filmed during the abuse, so he pleaded not guilty to making child pornography.

Justice Joe Fiorucci had to watch the abuse videos, and he did not believe the man’s testimony. The judge said:

“A review of the video evidence reveals that (the accused) had no difficulty following through with his intention… He conceded that his decision to take his turn with (the victim) was his own free choice and that he decided to do it because he wanted to try it.”

The judge said the accused must have known he was being filmed, he had seen other homemade videos. The cell phone camera also had a bright light and the he was filming the assault from inches away, at times also participating in the assault.

The 38-year-old is to be sentenced on the making child pornography charges on October 26th.

The mother’s boyfriend is serving an 11 year term, another man has been granted parole after serving 18 months.