BY KEITH LACEY
One of Sudbury?s most experienced judges needs some time to consider whether or not to send a Sudbury man to jail for possessing child pornography.
After hearing submissions from assistant Crown attorney Len Walker and defence counsel Michael Barnett, Justice Guy Mahaffy said he wanted more time to decide what the appropriate sentence should be against Brian Yeomans, 50.
Yeomans was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. Now he will have to wait until Nov. 8 to learn his fate. Yeomans was caught by police late last year in possession of 300 images of child pornography.
Mahaffy viewed an assortment of 20 images seized by police before lawyers made their submissions Thursday. Barnett asked Mahaffy to impose a conditional sentence of six months to be served in the community. Yeomans has no previous criminal record. He is ashamed of what he did and is not a
strong risk to reoffend, said Barnett.
Walker disagreed and asked for a term of incarceration of six months. Walker noted Yeomans told a probation officer he doesn?t believe there were any victims in this crime as he watched the images in the comfort of his own home and never distributed them.
Yeomans has admitted he spent several hours a day chatting with young girls between the ages of 12 and 16 on the Internet, said Walker.
Yeomans lost his job after being charged, but has since found another job.
Both lawyers agreed probation should follow any sentence and conditions will include Yeomans not be in the presence of any young person 16 or under unless accompanied by a responsible adult. He should also not be allowed near any schoolyard, playground or recreational facility frequented by young children. The judge has ordered Yeomans to provide a DNA sample for a national crime data bank.
