A man who pleaded guilty to child pornography offences that occurred in Whistler will serve a conditional sentence but won’t go on Canada’s sex offender registry, a judge ruled Jan. 24
Nicholas Kyle David Symons, 29, was charged with two counts of importing and/or distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography when he appeared in North Vancouver Provincial Court.
On Jan. 26, 2023, Symons pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Symons appeared before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris for sentencing on Wednesday.
“It is a serious offence,” Harris said. “It cannot be understated or overstated.”
Police found Symons had 48 images and 28 videos that Crown prosecutor Kevin Masse said depicted some “extremely depraved acts.”
“Those who wish to possess child pornography encourage sexual abuse of children,” Harris said. “The possession of child pornography must be considered a very serious offence.”
The conditional sentence includes a year’s house arrest during which time Symons must be at home except for attending school and running personal errands at specific times.
The following three months would see him have a curfew after which conditions would relax further.
Defence lawyer Tony Tso argued against putting Symons on the federal sex offender registry under the Sex Offender Information Registry Act. Tso said Symons was remorseful for his actions and has been deemed a low risk to re-offend.
“He recognizes the moral wrongfulness of his behaviour,” he told the judge.
Harris said the registry is not about helping the offer but to help police in investigating sex offence cases.
He added the charges before him were signposts for possible future predatory behaviour that could lead to sexual interference.
The investigation
Sea to Sky RCMP media relations officer Const. Katrina Boehmer confirmed Whistler’s detachment received information from B.C. RCMP’s Integrated Child Exploitation Team in July of 2021 about a Whistler individual caught “uploading child exploitation materials” between October 2020 and September 2021.
Whistler RCMP then took charge and forwarded information to the BC Prosecution Service for charge assessment.
