A Prince George man was sentenced Wednesday to an intermittent 90 days in jail and two years probation for possession of child pornography.
Gordon Kenneth Hill, 43, was issued the term in Prince George provincial court after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
He was arrested on Jan. 10, 2013, after RCMP monitoring internet protocol addresses for child pornography discovered Hill had downloaded videos and photos using a peer-to-peer file sharing service.
Prior to sentencing, Hill told the court he had no intention of downloading child pornography saying it was interspersed among the images of adult pornography he had been seeking.
"I would mass download 300, 400 images...I would scroll down and download a bunch of stuff and I clearly wasn't aware until afterwards what was there and how it got there," Hill said.
Hill said he pleaded guilty "because the first time I'd seen those images, I felt I never should've gone back to that file sharing site...and I feel bad about it. It's not the kind of thing I've ever done (before) or been interested in in any way, shape or form."
Hill would go through the downloads and delete the child pornography afterwards, the court also heard.
Both his probation and his jail term, which will be served on weekends, will begin on Friday. Conditions of his probation include staying away from school, parks, playground and other areas where youths 16 years and under commonly frequent.
If he gets involved in a relationship with a parent who has sons or daughters 16 years and under, Hill must also tell his probation officer, and consent to the officer informing the person of Hill's criminal past.
And he will be listed on the national sex offender registry for 10 years.
Because his business depends on advertising in online classifieds to draw customers, Hill had asked for an exemption prohibiting him from having an internet connection or accessing the internet.
Judge Randall Callan rejected the request and suggested he find a friend to monitor responses to the ads for him.
Hill was issued the mandatory minimum sentence that can be issued for the offence.
