Before the Honorable Judge Marie-Josée Ménard, at the sentencing hearing, Crown Prosecutor Me Vicky Smith recalled the numerous facts and important charges related to the dissemination, possession and production of child pornography and revealed the plot of events leading up to the arrest by Pierre Aziz, who lives in Drummondville.
Pierre Aziz admitted his guilt in crimes committed between April 18, 2019 and June 30, 2020, when investigations and evidence revealed that the accused had been in possession of child pornography and had distributed it during the same period.
The Drummond MRC team and investigators from the Sûreté du Québec Internet Child Sexual Exploitation Unit had tracked down the defendant’s cell phone, seized the computer equipment in the defendant’s home, and arrested him. The investigation allowed the mobile phone and some of the computer equipment to be linked to the accused.
“Sexually explicit images and photos, mainly of young girls between the ages of 8 and 12, nude, masturbating or being sexually abused by men, were presented as evidence,” recalled Crown Prosecutor Me Vicky Smith the severity not only of the access and possession, but also of the distribution of child pornographic images on the Internet in “file exchanges that fuel the growing phenomenon of child pornography and claim a large number of young victims”.
Le Vingt55 learned that during the five-hour interrogation of the defendant, Pierre Aziz initially claimed to have requested files of the “JF” category for “Young Woman”, without, according to his version, suspecting that he would receive files of young girls. The defendant, still according to his allegations, admitted to occasionally sharing them to fool around and play. Statements that apparently did not impress the Crown and the judge as the defendant admitted to inciting young victims to produce images and child pornography.” The Crown Prosecutor recalled that this was an aggravating factor.
In fact, in incriminating confessions to investigators, the defendant also admitted that several had mentioned lying naked in their beds when speaking to young girls under the age of 12. The defendant would then have demanded nude photos of them “as evidence, out of curiosity”. he tried to reason. According to the evidence, these pictures were then shared and exchanged by the accused on social networks.
Aziz also admitted to being in possession of numerous other sexually explicit and degrading images, which he received in the form of a series of photographs, showing young girls in degrading sexual positions or relationships.
The defendant also admitted to having stayed at a compound for a period of five years. A prejudice-related and sexological report reminds the accused of the risk of recidivism, who absolves himself of responsibility for his actions and downplays the seriousness of the allegations. The report mentions the need for follow-up to deal with the defendant’s deviations.
The Crown Prosecutor recalled that the accused had made a confession, as well as the many aggravating factors including lack of responsibility, a long period of time for the alleged offences, the nature of the files themselves and the large number of files joined as on delivery.
“We are talking here about attacks on the sexual integrity of young girls. The accused was involved in the creation of child pornography content. Consumption and distribution were not disrupted by awareness of acts and deviance, but by the arrest of the accused who downplayed the acts and consequences of possessing and distributing child pornography. concluded Crown Prosecutor Me Vicky Smithwho also wished to recall the importance of imposing a dissuasive penalty that reflects the seriousness of the offenses in order to protect children from sexual exploitation.
The defendant, acting without a lawyer, believed he could benefit from the minimum sentence of one year, to which the judge reacted vigorously, recalling that he should make this suggestion while the Crown Prosecutor is proposing a far more severe sentence, namely from 24 to 30 months imprisonment.
A reversal by the defendant regarding the risk of a significant prison sentence
When the Honorable Judge Marie-Josée Ménard ordered the special constables to handcuff the accused and send him to the cells when the time came to decide the appropriate sentence the accused would receive, he realized that the Fate was not favorable for him that he could not convince the court. He then asked the judge for a lawyer to represent him.
“Your request is reasonable and you have the right, but it will not save you from jail,” the judge then advised. “I will not deprive you of this right, but during your detention, which begins today, progress will be made”, she added as the defendant made his way to the cells.
The accused will appear in custody pending sentencing on July 6 and must have found counsel to represent him, as requested.