Hamilton man found guilty of making child porn of young girl advertised on Craigslist

A 38-year-old Hamilton man has been found guilty of making child pornography linked to a case where a seven-year-oldgirl was advertised for abuse on Craigslist.

The man had previously pleaded guiltytosexual interference back in June at ajudge-alone trial, but pleadednot guilty to making child porn.

The man, who cannot be named because of a publication ban put in place to protect the victim, arguedthat he didn't know he was being videotaped while the sexual assault took place.

Justice JoeFioruccirejected that argument in court Tuesday.

"At times in his trial evidence, [the man] attempted to attribute his lack of knowledge to the consumption of alcohol and drugs," Fiorucci said. "I reject his evidence in this regard. The only evidence of the effects of alcohol and drugs on [the man] comes from [the man] himself, a witness that I have found to be unreliable."

The man is thelastof five adults who have been triedin the case.

Court has heard the younggirl was offered up for abuse online by her mother's then-boyfriend.

Along with abusing the girl, the boyfriend also took thousands of illicit photos and videos of her over an 18-month period, court has heard. That manis currently serving13 years in prison.

Police investigation

During a police investigation into the abuse, officersseized a laptop from the boyfriend, which led to the discovery of the video showing the 38-year-old sexually abusing the girl, court heard.

The manwas arrested in May of 2016. According to an agreed statement of facts, heoriginally denied any part in thesexual assault, but when a detective confronted him with the videoshowing a "very distinctive" tattoo, he admitted that he was the man on the screen.

According to court documents, theman further said that prior to the sexual assault, he and the boyfriend watched numerous videos of the boyfriend sexually abusing the girl, as well asa video that the boyfriendsecretly shotof his 16-year-old step-daughter while she was naked in the bathroom.

The agreed statement of facts statesthat after the pair watchedthe homemade child porn, the mother's then-boyfriend brought the 7-year-old girl into the room so she could be sexually assaulted.

'Just wanted to try it'

Court documents say the man disclosed to the detective that he got "really bombed and just wanted to try it."

According to the agreed statement of facts, the man testified that before the sexual assault, he and the boyfriend consumed"a significant quantity" of alcohol and cocaine. He described himself as being "hammered."

Court documents also state that while the abuse was taking place,the boyfriend was holding a cellphone, videotaping the incident.

The judge said Tuesday that when viewing the video shot from that day, he saw the man move his body "in a manner which suggests that he was aware of the videotaping."

Lack of credibility and reliability

During the man's testimony, he denied knowing where the boyfriend was during the sexual assault and denied knowing what he was doing. He also toldhis lawyer that he couldn't remember whether or not the room was dark, according to the agreed statement of facts.

Duringcross-examination, the mancontinued to deny that he knew his friend was filming him.He did say that his eyes were open, but saidhe was "just looking away."

Hamilton police officer Sgt. John Tselepakispreviously testified that the only source of light in the room at the time came from the LED light from the cellphone.

Fiorucci said he took a variety of facts into consideration when making his decision.

They included the man's knowledge that his friend had previously created child porn,that he took video of his 16-year-old step-daughter naked, the presence of his friend in the roomwhile he was abusing the girl, and that the other manwas holding a cellphone camera with a bright LED light.

The man is expected to be sentenced in October.