Accused in high-profile Halifax child porn case pleads guilty

A young man from the Halifax region has pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography in a high-profile case.

At the centre of the case is a photo showing the victim having sex while vomiting out a window.

The 19-year-old cannot be identified because he was a minor at the time of the offence in the fall of 2011. The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, died after she was taken off life-support following a suicide attempt in the spring of 2013

"This is validation there was a crime," said the victim's father outside court. Still, he says it's hard to be in the courtroom without his daughter.

"She's not there to see people held accountable for what they did to her. I can't help think about that. It gets your stomach all in a knot. It's upsetting. It's a sadness I really think I'd have a hard time describing." 

The man admits to sending an image to two girls. From there, it was shared numerous times.

"There are a lot of people out there that still have her photograph," said the victim's father. "Nothing's been done to keep anybody else accountable."

Her family said the photo led to the girl's suicide.

"It took away the very essence of who she was," said the victim's mother. "Once that photo appeared she was never the same again." 

A second charge of distributing child pornography was withdrawn. 

The man will be sentenced Jan. 15 after a pre-sentence report is prepared.

The victim's parents said the boy and his family have harassed them. 

"They're deflecting instead of taking any responsibility. So to attack us and say we're trying to ruin their life, I think the victim impact statement might be very different," said the girl's mother.

Jail time unlikely

Another 20-year-old man was also charged, and got a conditional discharge earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to making child pornography.

An agreed statement of facts delivered in that man's case in September said he took a photograph of the youth who smiled and gave a thumbs-up while having sex with a 15-year-old girl, who was vomiting out a window.

In reading the agreed statement of facts into the court record, the Crown said the girl was not aware that the picture was being taken and did not give consent to it.

The Crown is requesting a sealing order so that no one can see the image at the centre of this case ever again.

The victim's father says the family still wants to know why charges of sexual assault weren't laid.