WARNING: This story contains details of child abuse
A plea deal has been offered to Canadian national Matthew Norman Ballek from Saskatchewan who has been charged with distributing videos depicting the sadistic sexual abuse of toddlers and prepubescent children.
A status hearing that was scheduled in a Washington court on May 30 has been adjourned to July, according to court documents in the District of Columbia. A status hearing is a court proceeding where the accused’s lawyer will indicate whether to take the case to trial or settle with a guilty plea.
On May 16, defence counsel spoke to the assigned Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) about specific terms of the plea offer. Since that date, defence gathered additional information related to Ballek’s case and provided it to the government for the ongoing plea negotiations. The AUSA and defence remain in active negotiations.
His defence has reviewed the plea offer with him and the case remains on track for the entry of a plea, state court documents.
The evidence against the World Bank employee, who has been charged with distributing videos depicting the sadistic sexual abuse of toddlers and prepubescent children, is “extremely strong,” according to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia.
The FBI arrested Ballek in Washington in February and charged with sharing, for purposes of his own sexual gratification, videos depicting toddlers and infants who are crying in pain as they are being raped by adult men.
The FBI said that Ballek sent the videos to an undercover FBI officer working with the MPD-FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and “discussed his sexual interest in children at length with an undercover police officer.”
“Although [Ballek] has no known criminal history, he has admitted to the undercover officer in this case that he has a long-standing sexual interest in children and that he has acted on this sexual appetite in the past," read court documents. "Specifically, [Ballek] admitted that he participated in the sexual abuse of a toddler whose father he met on the social media app ‘Grindr.’ [Ballek] also asked the undercover officer if he would ‘share’ his purported eight-year-old daughter, in an apparent attempt to engage with the officer in acts of sexual abuse against this child.
“He also implied to the undercover officer that he has engaged in the sexual abuse of children ‘abroad’ and commented to the officer that he should ‘go abroad’ with him in order to engage in sexual acts with children outside the legal protection of the laws of the United States,” state court documents.
Court heard that Ballek had taken “relatively sophisticated steps to make his illegal conduct harder to detect.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office was opposed to Ballek’s release saying he was a serious flight risk because he is a Canadian citizen in the U. S. on a G4 work visa with no family or other ties to the United States and faces a significant prison sentence if convicted. If found guilty, distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence. The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison.
They also said he posed a serious danger to the community.
“[Ballek] here has not only engaged in the distribution of sadistic child pornography material depicting extremely vulnerable toddlers and young children being raped by adult men but has also sought out others who share his sexual interest in children,” state court documents. “According to [Ballek’s] statements to the [undercover], he has encouraged others to sexually exploit children by discussing and sharing child pornography and has attempted to meet other offenders who have access to children so that they can sexually abuse the children together.
“[Ballek] told the [undercover] in this case that he had participated in the sexual abuse of an eighteen-month-old boy during a sexual encounter with the boy’s father and also suggested that he had sexually abused children ‘abroad,’ encouraging the officer to go abroad with him. [Ballek] also expressed a sexual interest in the [undercover's] purported eight-year-old daughter.
“[Ballek] did not give a second thought to sharing hardcore child pornography with a stranger. He knew his conduct was illegal, and so he sought to conceal his identity and then to try to cover his tracks. The totality of his conduct and personal circumstances demonstrates that he is an unmitigable danger to the community and a serious risk of flight. There is no condition or combination of conditions that could reasonably assure community safety or [Ballek’s] return to Court were he to be released.”
Ballek was arraigned in a District of Columbia court on Feb. 7. The US Attorney’s office had asked the court that Ballek be held in custody until his trial. Ballek conceded to being detained on remand.
Ballek, 31, who is from Outlook, Sask., worked at the Bank of Canada before moving to Washington to work for the World Bank, according to U.S. court documents.
An indictment is only an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
According to Ballek’s LinkedIn, he has been living in Washington, D. C., working as a financial risk specialist for The World Bank for the past two years. His LinkedIn also states he worked for the Bank of Canada for five years as a senior financial specialist and was a program manager in LGBT capital markets to “empower LGBT+ talent." He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and his Master of Financial Economics from Western University.
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If you have been a victim, there is help available
If you have been a victim of sexual violence, ensuring you are safe and supported is the first step. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
If you do not feel comfortable contacting the police, you can reach out to people you trust. You or someone acting on your behalf can also reach out to a sexual assault support agency, a Victim Services program or helpline.
In Regina call 306-522-2777 or email [email protected]
In Saskatoon call 306-244-2294 or email [email protected]
In the Battlefords call 306-445-2727 or email [email protected]
In Prince Albert call 306-764-1039 or email [email protected]
