Manitoba judge urged to make man pay $10K to child pornography victim

A judge has sentenced a former elementary school teacher convicted of possessing child pornography to two years less a day in jail, but reserved his decision on whether the man should pay restitution to one of the now adult women victimized in the material.

Steve Suomu, 50, of Winnipeg, was arrested in July 2016 after his IP address came up during an investigation into online child pornography.

At the time of his arrest, Suomuwas a Grade 2 teacher at Carman Elementary School.

Judge Robert Heinrichs described Suomuas a "sophisticated" computer user who spent a "significant" amount of time accessing the "dark web" for child pornography.

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While there is no evidence Suomuactively abused a child, "he pursued a career which gave him access to pre-pubescent children," Heinrichs said.

According to an agreed statement of facts previously provided to court, police executed a search warrant at Suomu's St. Boniface home and upon inspecting his laptop computer found a video of an adult male sexually abusing a young girl.

Near the computer, police found a "masturbation kit" that included girls' clothing, lotion and condoms.

A forensic examination of the computer ultimately uncovered 34 images of child pornography and 92 child pornography videos, the majority of which depicted the abuse of girls between the ages of two and 10.

In an interview with police, Suomuadmitted to accessing child pornography "almost daily" for 15 years.

A number of the videos found on Suomu's computer are of the same victim. Videos ofthe American girl being abused by her father have been viewed and traded among child pornography offenders for decades.

In what is a first for Manitoba, the Crown is seeking restitution of $10,000 for the now 30-something victim.

A 2014 decision out of the Ontario Court of Justice awarding $9,200 to the same victim supports the move, argued Crown attorney Sheila Doe.

According to documents provided to court, costs associated with the victim's abuse, including medical and therapy bills, lost wages, and vocational retraining, are expected to exceed $3 million during the woman's lifetime.

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"I want you to know that dealing with the effects of the stress of random men looking at my sex abuse as a child is like a full-time job," the woman wrote in a victim impact statement. It wears me down and colors every aspect of my life."

Doe said the woman has been stalked by men who have watched the videos of her being abused and remains plagued by fears any man she meets has seen the videos.

"People who sit in their basement and masturbate to child pornography ... cause this harm and restitution is the right thing to do," Doe said.

Defence lawyer Dan Manning argued the Ontario decision is of no merit as it referenced U.S. legislation to support the awarding of restitution to the victim. No such legislation currently exists in Canada.

"This is the clearest of cases where restitution should not be ordered, considering the current state of the law in our country," Manning said.

According to the Canadian Criminal Code, restitution can be ordered where "psychological harm to a person is the result of an offence."

The problem, Manning argued, is determining who inflicted what harm, from the people who created the child pornography, to the people who distributed it and the people who watched it.

"The question is what portion of the harm is Mr. Suomu's?" Manning said.

Heinrichs will render his decision on restitution Jan. 11.