NANAIMO — A 75-year-old Gabriola Island man has avoided prison and been given a 22-month conditional sentence following a guilty plea for possession of child pornography.
Charges stem from photos found on Dennis Larsen’s phone in 2020 of a then nine-year-old girl in various stages of undress, which had been taken several years prior.
Judge Ronald Lamperson accepted the joint conditional sentence submitted by the Crown and the defence.
Larsen was visibly anxious during the sentencing and spoke to the courtroom when given the chance.
He said he is “more than sorry for this”, and that it “was a one-time thing and (it) won’t ever happen again.”
Judge Lamperson spoke directly to Larsen in his sentencing, saying he was quite satisfied with the joint submission, but Larsen needs to be aware of the consequences if he decides to breach his conditions, which could mean serving the remainder of his sentence in jail.
“I think you recognize this now, what you did in taking photographs and keeping those photographs is very serious. You understand that it’s not only serious but illegal. Despite your age, you’re quite fortunate you’re not going with the sheriff to the back of the van to go right to jail.”
Larsen responded with “yes sir, your honour.”
Crown prosecutor Nicholas Barber said he felt the joint submission was acceptable as there were few aggravating circumstances, such as the small number of photographs of the young person in various states of undress, and there was no direct contact assault.
“The (victim) is doing ok, but there also have been some long-term effects from all of this. I also want to make it clear on the record the Crown is not asking for Mr. Larsen to be sentenced for any hands-on activity or anything involving sexual assault.”
Larsen’s defence attorney Bert King said his client lives on his property by himself after the death of his wife several years ago, is incredibly lonely and made a bad judgment call.
King added Larsen has since “done the right things he can do at this point” and is “deeply sorry for this.”
Included in Larsen’s sentencing are having no contact with the victim, not being allowed contact with anyone under the age of 18, abiding by a curfew between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. for the first 12 months as well as physiatric counselling.
He will also be added to Canada’s national sex offenders registry for 20 years.
Larsen must serve his sentence in B.C. and will also be under three years probation following his sentence.
He had no prior criminal record prior to these charges.
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