Halifax-area man admits to taking thousands of pornographic photos of boys

For 16 minutes in a Dartmouth, N.S., courtroom, prosecutor Scott Morrison methodically read out the graphic, heart-wrenching and sickening facts of the case, as family members of two victims listened in the public gallery, one weeping.

Robert Edward List, 59, on Thursday pleaded guilty to child pornography and child luring charges, admitting he took at least 18,000 pornographic photos of boys, some as recent as 2023 and others dating back three decades.

"There's some extremely dark content that was located on Mr. List's devices," Morrison said outside court. "Certainly all manner of sexual imagery was depicted in what the police located."

List was arrested in 2023 after the family of a boy went to police. He was interviewed. Another victim, now an adult, was also interviewed days later, telling police List had taken photos of him when he was a young teenager, beginning in 2006.

Officers searched List's Windsor Junction, N.S., home, finding electronic devices containing so much data that last year RCMP said it constituted one of the largest digital evidence seizures in the history of the Nova Scotia unit that investigates cases of child pornography.

Photos of a number of boys were found, but most dealt with the two victims who gave interviews to police early on. In all, there were nearly 7,500 photos of one, and more than 10,000 of the other, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Police also discovered on a hard drive more than 85,000 child pornography images List didn't take, and more than 8,000 hours of videos.

Both victims told officers they did pornographic photo shoots for List, who often required them to wear outfits he provided. A court-imposed ban prohibits publishing details that would identify the two.

The photo sessions were done at List's home, but also at other locations, sometimes in the woods, according to the statement of facts. The younger victim told police List would set up stage lighting. Guns and other objects were used as props.

When police searched List's home and a second location, in Spryfield, they seized pistols and rifles, duffel bags and suitcases of boys' clothing, along with tripods and photographic lights. 

Both victims said List paid them. The younger said he also bought him a video game console, took him to KFC or to activities he enjoyed. The second victim said List would supply him with cigarettes and pornography.

Officers analyzing a hard drive seized from List's home found photos of one of the victims taken at spots around the Halifax region, including under highway overpasses, gravel pits, and even beside a sign for a film set of the TV show Sullivan's Crossing, which shoots at various outdoor locations in Nova Scotia.

List is being held in custody. He appeared by video Thursday from the jail where he is being detained.

Morrison said the Crown and defence will jointly recommend a "high single-digit" sentence in terms of the number of years in prison when List returns to court in late August.

If the recommendation is accepted by Judge Brad Sarson, it will be one of the highest sentences for making child pornography ever handed down in Nova Scotia, Morrison said.

List was facing sexual touching charges, but the Crown will not be proceeding on those. Morrison said in court the agreed statement of facts does not contain allegations of sexual touching or that List distributed the pornography that he made.