An Abbotsford man has lost his bid to appeal the jail sentence he was given for amassing more than 12,000 images of child sexual abuse.
Caleb Janzen, 36, was sentenced in May to a one-year jail term and three years of probation, but he appealed the judge鈥檚 decision, saying she had made errors in her judgment.
A three-judge panel on Friday (July 18) in Vancouver rejected the appeal, saying no errors were made.
Judge Dannielle Dunn on May 1 rejected a joint sentencing submission by the defence and Crown lawyers, who recommended Janzen receive a two-year conditional sentence 鈥� served in the community, with no jail time 鈥� and 18 months鈥� probation.
It鈥檚 unusual for a judge to go outside of a joint submission, but Dunn said she took into account that Janzen was previously convicted 鈥� in December 2019 鈥� on a charge of distributing child porn. At that time, he was handed a six-month conditional sentence and 18 months鈥� probation.
Dunn said the lawyers鈥� sentencing recommendation on Janzen鈥檚 most recent charge of possession of child pornography 鈥� to which he pleaded guilty 鈥� was based on other court cases in which the accused had no prior criminal record, unlike Janzen.
Dunn said a jail sentence was necessary in the latest case because of Janzen鈥檚 prior conviction, the images in his possession depicted sexual violence of children as young as nine years old, he had more than 12,000 images stored, and a psychologist determined he is a 鈥渕oderate to high risk鈥� to re-offend.
But at a hearing on Thursday (July 17), defence lawyers argued, in part, that Dunn overstepped her role by 鈥渃onducting her own research鈥� into sentencing precedents beyond what were provided in the joint submission.
In the Court of Appeal decision on Friday, Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten said Dunn made no errors in looking beyond what was presented in court.
鈥淪he rejected the joint submission, knowing this should be done only when the proposed sentence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute or would otherwise be contrary to the public interest,鈥� DeWitt-Van Oosten said.
She said Dunn conducted 鈥渋ndependent research鈥� after the lawyers presented her with cases 鈥樷�渟he considered to be of limited assistance.鈥�
鈥淪he was entitled to consider the circumstances surrounding the offence, the personal circumstances of the appellant, including his previous conviction and risk, and the applicable sentencing principles,鈥� DeWitt-Van Oosten said.
Janzen was arrested and charged following an investigation that started in June 2022.
U.S. Homeland Security discovered that materials containing child sexual abuse were sent to an email address that later proved to be Janzen鈥檚.
Two search warrants executed at Janzen鈥檚 home in Abbotsford resulted in the seizure of three cellphones.
A detective from the Abbotsford Police Department extracted data from the devices and found 12,485 files that met the definition of child pornography under the Criminal Code, according to prior court evidence.
