A Prince George man was sentenced Tuesday to two years less a day in jail after pleading guilty to charges related to child pornography.
Nikolas Ryan Osl, 23, must also serve three years probation following completion of his jail term under the sentence issued by Prince George provincial court judge Shannon Keyes.
Osl was arrested Dec. 11, 2013 after RCMP received a tip from a former friend of Osl's that he was downloading video and images onto his computer.
From that device, police extracted 47 videos and 374 images depicting mostly preteen and prepubescent girls, as well as some boys, in scenarios ranging from posing to sadism and bondage.
Osl posed a problem while he was facing charges.
On April 23, 2013, Prince George RCMP received a Crimestoppers tip that the day before an ad had been posted on Craigslist "looking for a young secretive girl," the court was told.
The ad, which was posted eight days before he was to make his first appearance in court on the child pornography charges, was traced back to Osl. It was eventually taken down in response to community alerts - a system where viewers can click to warn Craigslist about inappropriate ads.
As a result, Osl's case went through a delay as Crown considered pursuing a criminal charge on that matter before deciding a recognizance would be a better option.
Then, on Sept. 11, 2014, Osl was taken into custody, where he has remained ever since, after he was seen at the Four Seasons swimming pool, contravening a breach of his recognizance against frequenting public places where there are minors.
He was seen in the viewing area and claimed to be there reading but was the only adult with his shirt off in that section. As well, two "barely legal" pornography magazines as well as a woman's bikini top were found in his bag, also breaching his recognizance.
An investigation by the RCMP's integrated child exploitation unit also found Osl had been "passively" sharing material by storing it on a file sharing service and "actively" by posting images on an photo sharing service based in Russia.
Although thought to be outside the reach of police in Canada, authorities in Russia provided a copy of the site's database.
Osl had been receiving a disability benefit because of mental health problems but a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed him found no connection between his condition and his offending behaviour.
Keyes, meanwhile, disputed Osl's claim he did not know his activities were against the law, noting the file in which he stored images on his computer was labeled "private" and the ad used the word "secret." Those words would have been unnecessary had he thought the material was legal, Keyes found.
Osl, who apologized to the court for his actions and has no previous criminal record, appears willing to undergo treatment and counseling while behind bars. He received credit for 303 days in custody prior to sentencing, which means he has 426 days left to serve.
