Graphic images were shown in court as the first week of a Prince George man's sexual abuse trial wrapped up Friday.
An RCMP computer expert spent two days on the stand explaining how he retrieved images from a series of computers that were seized from two different residences as part of the investigation. Some of the images had been deleted, but Const. Christopher Obieglo said he was still able to retrieve them using special police software.
The man, who can't be named due to a court-ordered publication ban, is facing 14 counts in B.C. Supreme Court, 10 of which deal with sexual assault and sexual interference regarding two of his stepdaughters. Two others charges relate to making or publishing child pornography and possession of child pornography. The final two counts relate to bestiality.
Justice Selwyn Romilly is hearing the trail without a jury.
The stepdaughters are expected to testify that the man began abusing them around the age of 12. The eldest victim is expected to say the abuse went on for 10 years, while the younger victim was able to stop the abuse after she turned 18 and moved out of the house.
Some of the photos that Obieglo found or recovered from the computers were of the stepdaughters, while others appear to have originated from online pornography websites.
On Friday, Obieglo presented evidence he gathered from "temporary Internet folders" from some of the machines, which contained pornographic images of at least one of the stepdaughters, but the officer said that doesn't mean the pictures were necessarily uploaded to the Internet.
He said they could have been contained in an email that was sent, received or drafted on the computer where he found the file.
The computers were seized at the apartment where the man was living at the time of his arrest on Dec. 21, 2010 as well as from the family home at a later date. The man had moved out of the home eight days prior to his arrest.
