Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., man pleads guilty to child pornography charges
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing information on child pornography.
A man from Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., has pleaded guilty to two charges related to child pornography.
On Monday, appearing in court over the phone, 23-year-old Kenny Shae Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.
In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard that between February and July of 2019, Shae Jr. had been sending child pornography on messaging apps like Discord and Kik.
At the time, a portion of all the images uploaded to Kik were automatically screened for child pornography — and one of the photos Shae Jr. had uploaded was flagged by the system.
Kik reported this to the RCMP, who started an investigation into Shae Jr.'s online activities, and found that he was also sending child pornography to other people online.
On October 23, 2019, when the RCMP searched Shae Jr.'s home in Fort Good Hope, he had nearly 1,500 images and one video of child pornography on his computer.
Most of the children in the photos were girls between the ages of four and 10 years old.
Shae Jr. was arrested, and was then released on strict conditions.
He will appear in court again on May 10, where N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Andrew Mahar will set a date for sentencing arguments.