Penticton child porn distributor could face an eight year prison term

PENTICTON – The Crown is seeking a six to eight year jail term for a Penticton man who played a willing and coordinating role in a world-wide child pornography ring on the dark web. 

Tyler David Walker, 21, pleaded guilty this morning to importing or distributing child pornography. While those charges are not entirely uncommon, the police investigation revealed that Walker was far more involved that many men who simply view or download. 

Crown Prosecutor Andrew Vandersluys told court the investigation was a cooperative effort involving the Department of Homeland Security in the United States, the Toronto Police Department and the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit of the RCMP and focussed on the ‘dark web,’ a corner of the internet most people aren't aware of.

Between August, 2015 and March, 2017, police monitored sites dedicated to child porn and child exploitation, eventually leading them to Walker and his online presence through several aliases, including ‘Drax,’ ’Slunk,’ and ‘Dead Pool,' as he exchanged comments, acted as moderator and assisted in the development of child porn websites on the dark web.

Over the course of the investigation, police observed links to extremely graphic images and videos of child pornography.

Police also monitored online discussions Walker had with other users where he discussed his preference for 10-year-old girls. In one conversation Walker also talked about adopting a young girl, discussing in detail what he would do.

He was also observed discussing and developing a child porn web site, launching “Child’s Play” on April 2, 2016.

He said by April 17, there were 2,586 users of the site.

Walker was also implicated in a plan to develop another website that posted “hurt core” images and videos of violent child porn.

By Nov. 12, 2016, Walker urged his users to use caution because other users were suddenly and mysteriously dropping off the site. That's because police were indeed beginning to arrest them. Walker was arrested March 15, 2017 and has been in custody since where he has been assessed by clinical staff.

Vandersluys said a pre-sentence report called Walker a low to moderate risk to reoffend if he "abstains from illicit drugs and is compliant to his medication.”

He said Walker used the internet as a means for his sex education, and although he was aware what he did was wrong, was not aware to the extent to which he normalized his behaviour.

Vanderluys noted the abuse of children, the degree of violent material involved and the scope of distribution of the child pornography, calling Walker’s crimes serious because his actions enabled the sharing of the material by thousands.

“His culpability is very significant,” Vandersluys said in asking Judge Gale Sinclair for a sentence of between six and eight years in jail.

Defence lawyer Norm Yates said his client entered the earliest guilty plea possible to the offence, calling him “tremendously immature in social development” prior to his incarceration in March.

He said his client fully appreciated and accepted the criminal nature of his wrongdoing, had no prior criminal history and had taken on a renewed spirituality since being incarcerated.

Yates said his client’s crimes had been revealed to the prison population while in custody, and he had been beaten as a result. He is now serving time in segregation.

Yates said his client was taking advantage of all programs offered in prison, including psychological counselling.

He asked the judge for a term of imprisonment that would allow him to serve his sentence in provincial jail (two years or less) at Ford Mountain Correctional Centre, a men’s multi-level security centre located near Chilliwack.

Judge Gale Sinclair reserved his judgement, adjourning the matter to the judicial case manager’s office for a decision date in the new year.

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