BATTLEFORD - The judge in the trial of a man facing child pornography charges relating to his residence in Marshall where a home-based daycare used to operate pronounced his sentencing decision at the Court of King's Bench in Battleford on Monday.
Justice Grant Currie sentenced Joseph Sproull to 15 years in prison.
Less credit for time served, Sproull has 14 years and 236 days left to serve.
Currie described Sproull's actions in committing his offences as "monstrous behaviour."
He noted, according to the Criminal Code, sexual offences against children are among "the most serious of offences."
In addition to his time in prison, Sproull must also provide a DNA sample, and will be required to comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act.
He was ordered not to communicate with the victims while he is in custody.
Sproull must also forfeit his cellphone, which contains hundreds of child pornography images.
He must also pay a victim surcharge or work off the charge after he completes his sentence.
Sproull was previously found guilty on all eight charges - possessing and distributing child pornography, making child pornography x 2, as well as sexual assault x 2 and sexual interference x 2.
The two charges of sexual interference were stayed by the Crown for sentencing because a person can't be convicted of both sexual assault and sexual interference at the same time, since the two offences have similar elements, known as the Kienapple Principle in law.
A publication ban is in effect on identifying the victims and complainants in the case.
Crown prosecutor Andrew Clements previously recommended a sentence of 18.5 years in totality for the charges given the gravity of the offences, while defence attorney Brian Pfefferle instead suggested a total of six years in custody would be appropriate as a global sentence.
Following court, Clements said he was pleased with the judge's sentence of 15 years in jail.
"I'm very happy about the decision," he told reporters. "I think that's an appropriate sentence. We were hoping for a sentence around that time period. So, we're [the Crown] very happy with 15 years. He is now in the highest category of sentences [for this type of case] in this province."
The judge had said in court a longer sentence was needed for both denunciation and deterrence in the case.
"It's obviously, making sure the public is aware - any future offenders - that this is the type of sentence [meted out]," Clements said. "For this particular offender, it was mostly to speak to how severe the charges were, how severe the facts were and to put them into a category that makes them stand out from other offenders."
Clements spoke to some members of both of the victims' families who said they were pleased with the sentence.
"This has been a long process from the start - from the RCMP, from the ICE [Integrated Child Exploitation Unit] Unit investigating it - to get to where we are today, especially with some of the delays we've faced," he said. "So, I think it's a very good result for everyone involved. It's a very good result for the province. I'm very grateful for the work that went into it, from the investigators onward, so that we could get to where we are today."
Clements added that while every victim would hope that Sproull could be in jail for the rest of his life, that isn't realistic in Canada.
"Knowing what type of sentence he can get, I think they [the families] are happy with the result," Clements said. "This was the type of sentence we were hoping for, so I think that everyone is happy, or as happy as you can be, under the circumstances, knowing that he is going to spend 15 years in custody."
