'No stone left unturned': Campbell River man sentenced for possessing child pornography

A 66-year-old Campbell River man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison, plus years of probation, after he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

A 66-year-old Campbell River man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison, plus years of probation, after he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

The Campbell River RCMP say they were first alerted to someone viewing child pornography in the Mid-Island city by the B.C. Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in May 2021.

Mounties investigated the tip and executed a search warrant at a home in October of that year.

At the home, police seized several digital devices that contained "thousands of images and videos that met the definition of child pornography," RCMP said in a release Wednesday.

Leslie Harold Hamilton was sentenced on April 12 to 13 months in prison for possession of child pornography.

The sentence also includes two years probation, a five year sex offender prohibition, a mandatory 20 years on the sex offender registry and a DNA order.

"People need to understand that viewing and possessing child pornography is not a victimless crime," said Insp. Jeff Preston, officer in charge of Campbell River RCMP.