A Prince George man RCMP caught in the act of downloading child pornography while his two young children were in the same room was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail.
Jereme Carl Kozak, 26, must also serve three years probation upon completion of his time in custody, which will be spent at Ford Mountain Correctional Centre where there is special programming for sexual offenders.
He was arrested in early June 2013 after a member of the B.C. Intregrate Child Exploitation Team traced the downloading of child pornography over a public file sharing service to an internet protocol address belonging to Kozak.
When RCMP executed a search warrant on a 400-block Voyageur Drive home, they found Kozak downloading images of child pornography onto a laptop using a file sharing program popular for the use, the court heard.
As well, two children, ages three and five, were in the same room, a situation judge Dan Weatherly found "extremely aggravating" as he decided to sentence Kozak to the top end of the nine to 12 months Crown prosecution had been seeking.
Kozak had been sharing custody of the children with his previous partner. He no longer has contact with them, the court was told.
The boy was watching a video, the girl was asleep on the floor while the laptop, placed on a mattress, was showing a television show while also running two file sharing programs. Police also found a pipe with burned marijuana in it and a can of beer next to the laptop.
In all, 61 videos and four images of child pornography were extracted.
Kozak was living next to a park and an elementary school, it was also noted.
When interviewed by a forensic psychiatrist, Kozak denied any sexual attraction to children and said he was engaging in different risky behaviours because he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown.
But Crown argued the use of downloading software and the amount of child pornography showed his actions were premeditated rather than impulsive.
Kozak also told the psychiatrist he spent several hundred dollars a week on marijuana and was once fired from his job because he was high on the substance, but he refused to take counseling for substance abuse following his arrest.
Kozak, who had moved to Prince George from Quesnel shortly before his arrest, had a "somewhat troubled and traumatic upbringing, especially at the hands of his stepfather," Weatherly said.
Since his arrest, Kozak spent two extended stays in hospital due to suicidal thoughts and tendencies and was living in a shelter while on welfare.
"I regret my actions," Kozak told the court prior to sentencing.
Conditions of his probation include staying away from playgrounds, parks and schools and not accessing the internet except for employment or education purposes.
Kozak pleaded guilt to one count each of possessing and accessing child pornography. A charge of importing or distributing child pornography was stayed.
