BOYLE/WESTLOCK — A Westlock man caught with more than 15,000 images and videos containing child pornography, faces close to four years in jail and has been banned for 15 years from any place kids under 16 years of age could be.
In Boyle Provincial Court Oct. 11, Judge Vaughn Myers delivered his sentence in the case of Edmund Bobbie Cooke, 52, who’s been in protective custody at the Edmonton Remand Centre since Aug. 4 when he turned himself in. Cooke pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography in Barrhead Provincial Court Aug. 22.
Cooke will serve 40 months in a federal institution, down from the 48 months the Crown asked for, as Judge Myers gave him credit for not having to take the case to trial — Myers calculated it at 1,215 days while Cooke had served 69 days in custody previously with enhanced credit for a total of 104 days, leaving him 1,111 days at the time of sentencing.
Cooke will also submit his DNA and be registered on the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years and is banned for 15 years from being in a park, public swimming area, daycare, community centre, or school ground where children under 16 years of age could be. He can’t work or volunteer for an organization if it puts him in a supervisory role over someone aged 16 years or younger and he can’t communicate directly or through digital means including phones with anyone underage.
Defence counsel Matthew Pagels asked for all of Cooke’s seized items to be returned, but Crown prosecutor Scarlett Chan said there was no way to ensure all the offending images and videos were completely removed and Judge Myers agreed, only allowing items without any digital storage to be returned.
During sentencing, Judge Myers said he refused to view even a portion of the mountain of evidence and took a few minutes to explain why.
“(It) was the Crown's contention the court should view a representative sample of the child pornography in private chambers,” he said. “This court has declined to do so and would like to put the court's reasons on the record.”
There was an agreed statement of facts, and the massive collection of videos and photographs were well documented, he said, and anyone viewing them could be left with “irreparable damage.”
“My intention is not to be self-indulgent, rather it is an attempt to spur on continuing increasingly important conversation about the justice system and those who suffered by being exposed to disturbing material such as child pornography,” said Judge Myers. "Science shows, and it stands to reason, that frequent and repeated trauma can lead to more serious and lasting impacts on our mental health.”
He noted any viewing of the material also re-victimizes the children involved.
The crime
During a search of Cooke’s home Oct. 23, 2020, RCMP seized several computers and digital storage devices and after a forensic examination it was determined there were more than 15,000 images and videos in his collection.
Chan noted Cooke did not create any of the material but obtained it through the Internet and the information included, but was not limited to user accounts, e-mails, and user documents. She noted the devices also had photos of the accused on them, indicating they belonged to Cooke.
On one of the computers, the forensic examiner found thousands of examples of child pornography, including 8,692 images and 118 videos on two hard drives. The examiner also determined the file creation dates ranged from Nov. 20, 2019, to Oct. 21, 2020, two days before the search warrant was executed.
"The accused admits he used his computer to access and obtain child pornography ... that he used it to knowingly cause child pornography to be transmitted and used by himself,” she said during the Aug. 22 court appearance in Barrhead. "He also admits he had knowledge and intention to possess and was in control of the child pornography on his computer."
In addition, the forensic examiner found another 4,845 images and 139 videos on a second computer created from Aug. 9, 2019, to Nov. 22, 2019, as well as 1,189 images and three videos on Cooke’s cellphone.
Chan said Cooke also admitted that from mid-2014 to the date of his arrest, he exchanged more than 5,015 messages with an individual in the Philippines named “Jewels.”
In one of the messages, Chan said Cooke asked Jewels to arrange to find a child in which he could "participate in and watch Jewels sexually abuse.”
With files from Barry Kerton.
