By Bre McAdam

Man to be sentenced in September for child pornography charges

Jun 15, 2012 | 5:57 PM

A Lloydminster-area man charged in a shocking child pornography case will have to wait until September to be sentenced.

Sentencing arguments for Shane Pattison wrapped up today at Saskatoon's Court of Queen's Bench.

The 22-year-old father from Marshall, Saskatchewan hugged his fiancé outside the courtroom before being led away in handcuffs. Pattison had been released on bail but will stay in custody until sentencing.

He pleaded guilty last November to 53 child pornography-related charges stemming from a 13 month period.

They include collecting and sharing more than 4,000 graphic images depicting the rape, torture and bondage of children, some as young as a few months old.

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Pattison is also charged with producing child pornography after he created a detailed manual on how to sexually abuse children.

Crown prosecutor Michael Segu said Pattison used Hotmail and Facebook to share images and videos with 433 contacts, creating the potential for his collection to be reproduced 1.8 million times.

“Every time those images are shared, that child is re-victimized again and again and again,” said Segu.

He also argued that although Pattison had never sexually abused a child, he was “morphing into a hands-on offender” in several ways.

Segu outlined how Pattison asked his fiancé to watch the pornography with him, to which she declined. The accused also applied for babysitting jobs on Kijiji and Craigslist, and admitted during a police interview that he may not be able to control himself if left alone with a child.

Pattison is the father of a one-year-old boy, who is currently in his mother's custody.

Court heard Pattison had online conversations talking about the torture, mutilation and killing of infants and sent photos that he claimed were of his niece, none of which was true.

Segu is seeking a seven year jail term along with a lifetime sex offender registry order and a lifetime ban from working or volunteering with children.

Defense lawyer Brian Pfefferle is asking for less than half that sentence, and argued his client should only spend two to three years in jail.

“Although this is a very disturbing case for everybody involved, I think we need to keep in mind that this is an offense that in the scale of offenses is certainly not as severe as the acts that create the child pornography itself.”

Pfefferle described Pattison as an outcast who turned to the Internet for a social outlet. He's been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, although Pfefferle admits there is no direct correlation between the mental illness and an affinity for child pornography.

He said his client has been seeing a councillor since he was released from custody, has abided by all his release conditions and has already faced reprimands such as ostracism in his community and losing custody of his child.

The hearing ended with Pattison apologizing to the community, his family, his fiancé and his son, saying “since my son has been born it has been eye-opening for me.”

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