Longest-ever sentence for Saskatoon child pornographer with 'vile' collection

Calling his crimes "horrendous,"aSaskatoon judge sentenced a man to 12 years in prisonafter he pleadedguilty to 40 counts of possessing, producing and sharing child pornography.

Philip MichaelChicoine, 28, remained expressionless during his sentencing Tuesday in a Saskatoon courtroom.

He did not appear to make eye contact with his parents, who sat in the front row.

"His collection was vile," said RCMP Cpl. Jared Clarke, the lead investigator fromSaskatchewan's InternetChild Exploitation Unit.

"It was some of the worst stuff I've ever seen. It caused nightmares, it caused me trouble dealing with my own kids at home," Clarkesaid, noting he sought counselling to deal with the images haunting him.

Paying parents to abuse their children

Last spring,Chicoineadmitted he paid and directed parents overseas to sexually abuse their children in real time using video streaming sites such as Skype.

In June, the Crown presented videos in court seized from Chicoine's computer. Many involved torture and bondage, with the victims' screams heard throughout the courtroom.

His victimsranged from infants to children 14 years old.

In the exchanges,Chicoineindicated he preferred children who cried during the abuse, complaining about the difficulties of finding "pedomoms."

'Unusual and significant violence against children'

He was found to have more than 580 uniquevideos and more than 4,000 uniquephotos. In total, 10,126 videos and 4,714 photos were in his possession, according to the Crown.

Chicoine admitted that he spent more than $20,000 over five years to pay for the online exchanges.

In her 30-page sentencing decision, JudgeVanessa Monar Enweanicited Chicoine's "unusual and significant violence against children,"and the need to denounce and deter sex offenders.

Chicoine'ssentence is the longest ever handed to a convicted child pornographer in Saskatchewan.

Judge urged Chicoineto seek rehabilitation

In March, Chicoinewas arrested, put on suicide watch and segregated from the general population at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre.

Enweanirecommended federal prison officials incarcerate him at the Regional PsychiatricCentre in Saskatoon.

She said Chicoinehas no prior criminal record and has been assessed as a moderate-to-high risk for being charged or convicted of another sexual offence.

The defence arguedChicoinefelt remorse and empathy for his victims, noting he was previously ostracized and intimidated, both at school and at his workplace.

"I think there is hope for your rehabilitation,"said Enweani.

Enweani ordered Chicoine to stay away from children for 10 years following his release,and to refrain from participating in any social network, online forum, orchat rooms.

Chicoinetexted children directly

Prosecutor Lana Morelli said the investigation into Chicoine's case began on Valentine's Day this year, when police came across a single pornographic image uploaded to a computer address in Saskatoon.

Chicoine was found to have texted children as young as 10 directly in Florida, Australia and Saskatoon. At one point, a 14-year-old texted him and said she mightkill herself. Chicoine replied that he'd want her to film the suicide so that he could watch.

Knowing that we had live victims still at riskwas tough.- Cpl. Jared Clarke, Internet Child Exploitation Unit

Morelli said police raided Chicoine's home while he was preparing to travel to the Philippines to engage in direct physical abuse with pre-teens and toddlers.

The Internet Child Exploitation Unit said children in the Phillipines were rescued last week as a result of the work done on this case.

"Knowing that we had live victims still at risk was tough," said Cpl. Clarke.

"It obviously pushed the envelope on us really having to work diligently and expediently to get the case put together as quick as we could," he said.