A Fort St. John man convicted of child pornography charges on Vancouver Island will serve just under six months in jail.
The Comox Valley Record reports Aaron Farough was found guilty and sentenced Thursday on charges of accessing and distributing the pornography dating back to February 2019 in Courtenay.
According to the Record, Farough was a travelling, unaffiliated church minister whose “missionary work relied on room and board at homes of members of his church.”
According to the Record, police intercepted pornographic images and videos Farough accessed on his smartphone while staying at the home of one of his followers, which involved girls ranging in age from four to 12 years old.
Farough is quoted in the news report as saying he was “curious” when explaining his reasoning for accessing the material.
“If I didn’t have access to this phone, I wouldn’t have accessed child porn. If I hadn’t been in such private settings, I wouldn’t have distributed child porn,” Farough was quoted as saying.
Farough was sentenced to 175 days jail and one year of probation, and will be registered on the national sex offender registry for 20 years, the Record reported. He is also forbidden from working or volunteering with kids under 16.
Farough, 36, now lives in Lethbridge and "has since had 19 sessions with a psychologist in Alberta that focused on his sexual issues,” according to the report.
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