Trial ends for suspended RCMP officer; Judge withholds decision

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During this time Pratchett testified his innocence and stated he does not know how the child pornography ended up on his computer.

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After being questioned by defense lawyer Mark Brayford, Crown prosecutor Michael Segu was up to question Pratchett about the computer and his usage tendencies with it.

The Crown offered evidence as to why no one, other than Pratchett, could be responsible for the child pornography on the computer.

According to the Crown, Pratchett’s computer, which Sask. ICE flagged child pornography on, is encrypted with a computer-generated 32-character password which investigators have failed to crack after over 3-trillion configurations.

Pratchett testified the password was not known by anyone other than himself, and his wife has described it as being “locked like Fort Knox.”

The Crown also argued the files in question were traced through Pratchett’s modem to his computer, and only during times where Pratchett was off shift.

In addition, the Crown referred to transcripts of the interrogation between Sask. ICE and Pratchett in October 2014 where Pratchett stated he regularly checks his bandwidth. The Crown used this as evidence against Pratchett, saying if a hacker had been using his computer to share the child pornography, he would have noticed the change in bandwidth usage.

In the closing arguments, Brayford admitted Pratchett is the number one suspect, however, the Crown has not been able to pinpoint Pratchett as the only possible suspect. Brayford also argued that is not the responsibility of the accused.

Brayford also argued the computer could have been accessed by someone other than Brayford as the password is only required during the start-up of the computer. He did this by referencing the interrogation transcripts where Pratchett told detectives he rarely shuts off the computer.

The Crown and the defense both declined to comment on the trial.

The judge will disclose his decision in Prince Albert Provincial Court on Feb. 24.

knguyen@panow.com

On Twitter: @khangvnguyen