Whitehorse man sentenced to year in custody for possession of child porn

Talar Stockton,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This story contains information that readers may find disturbing.

A Whitehorse man has been sentenced to one year in custody and two years’ probation for one count of possession of child pornography.

The sentence from Yukon Supreme Court justice Karen Wenckebach came down against Kole Alexander Smeeton on Jan. 8, 2025.

According to a March 24, 2023 indictment, Smeeton was initially charged with five counts involving child pornography and sexual assault. However, charges of accessing and making child pornography were stayed on Jan. 8, 2025, and charges of touching and sexually assaulting a person under sixteen were stayed on Feb. 13, 2024.

According Adrienne Switzer, the Crown prosecutor on the case, the charges of touching and sexual assault were stayed after it was decided it was not in the public interest to proceed on them. Switzer said that decision was made in light of information brought to the Crown, and with consultation with the victim.

She told the News the charges of accessing and making child pornography were stayed as part of a plea deal, which also eliminated the need for a trial.

According to the sentence document, Dropbox, a file hosting service, notified the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children that on Oct. 16, 2021, an individual with the username “Kole Smeeton” uploaded a video of a minor involved in a sex act. The report also included the IP address of the user, which police learned was the IP address associated with where Smeeton was living.

Pursuant to a search warrant, on Feb. 8, 2022, police seized a number of electronic devices from Smeeton at his home. According to the sentence document, the police found a total of 350 pictures and videos of child pornography. Thirty-six of the images and six of the videos were of a youth engaged in sexual activity with Smeeton.

In the sentencing document, the judge, Karen Wenckebach, said that in his Gladue report, Smeeton said that he had become involved in online sexual fantasy boards and that people from those boards sent him attachments. Upon opening the attachments, Smeeton saw “images of children doing awful things.” He said that he found it “gross” and closed the files, but inadvertently downloaded some of them.

However, in his risk assessment report, Smeeton said he downloaded a cache of images through Dropbox, and “was not sure what he would be receiving,” according to the sentencing document.

In their reasoning for sentence, the judge points out the inconsistency with statement of facts, which states Smeeton uploaded a file containing an image of child pornography to Dropbox.

The judge’s sentence of one year in prison with two years’ probation differs from what was sought by the Crown and by the defence in this case.

Smeeton’s defence was seeking two years’ conditional sentence, on the basis that the minimum sentence provision of one year in jail for the charge Smeeton was facing is unconstitutional.

The Crown was seeking an 18-month jail term followed by two years’ probation.

The judge in this case said that Smeeton continues to minimize his responsibility in the offence, leading them to conclude that he is at higher risk of re-offending than if he “were prepared to be honest about the offence.”

While the judge acknowledged Smeeton is no longer using cocaine, which he was using heavily at the time of the offence, the judge did find Smeeton’s use of marijuana problematic.

Mitigating factors heard in court included Smeeton being a “first-time, youthful offender,” Smeeton no longer using cocaine and Smeeton accessing counselling.

The judge said Smeeton had had a difficult and challenging life. They also recognized how colonialism had affected Smeeton and his family through residential school, substance abuse and sexual abuse among other aspects of colonialism.

The terms of Smeeton’s probation include forfeiture of the devices upon which the pornographic material was located.

He is also banned from being employed or volunteering in a role that involves being in a position of trust or authority of anyone under the age of 16. He is also banned from having any contact with anyone under the age of 16 without supervision, and banned from using the Internet unless in accordance with conditions set by the court.

He is to be registered as a sex offender for 20 years.

Talar Stockton,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Yukon News