Man displayed sexually explicit image to child at Niagara elementary school
The man followed the 12-year-old student between rows of portables at her Niagara Falls elementary school and motioned to her.
He held up a cellphone. The image on the screen was that of an erect penis.
The child quickly left the area, but was approached by the same man a few hours later as she waited for her school bus.
The stranger again displayed the sexually explicit image to the startled girl.
The student disclosed the incident to her parents that night and Niagara Regional Police launched an investigation the following day.
When Trevor Deline was arrested the following week, police forensically examined his cellphone and discovered hundreds of images of child pornography, some featuring children as young as two years old.
The police stopped searching the device after they reached 517 images," Crown attorney Michal Sokolski said in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.
Deline, 30, was sentenced to 15 months behind bars Thursday after he pleaded guilty to charges of making sexually explicit material available to a person under 16, and possession of child pornography.
The disturbing incident occurred in November 2021 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Elementary School.
Court was told the defendant was employed by a paving company that had been contracted by the school board to perform work on the Carlton Avenue property.
In an assessment report submitted to the court, the author described the man's behaviour at the school as self-serving."
It was a poorly contrived attempt at humour, and an effort to be noticed," defence lawyer David Protomanni told the judge.
Judge Deborah Calderwood said the incident likely had a profound impact on the 12-year-old, and the child is likely now afraid of being approached by people she is unfamiliar with.
She also described the offender's collection of child pornography as enormous."
You need to appreciate that for every one of those images on your phone, there is a victim of child sexual abuse - children whose lives have been destroyed by not only the makers and distributors of child pornography but by end consumers like you," the judge said.
If we don't send people to jail for participating in the sexual abuse of children, the message gets sent that this is somehow tolerable - and it's not."
In addition to jail, the defendant was placed on probation for three years.
Jennifer Pellegrini, communications officer for Niagara Catholic District School Board, said contractors are called to schools on occasion, whether for a scheduled upgrade or to repair an urgent problem.
In any instance, contractors have no reason to engage with a student at a school, and there is an understanding that contractors will not engage with students for any reason while they are on the property."
She said the tender provided to the company involved in the incident has had the following clause added: student safety is a paramount concern, and the contractor must employ on their own initiative, any and all reasonable preventative measures to secure the safety of the students while performing the work.
Niagara Catholic takes the position this would apply not only to physical safety, but to the social or emotional well-being of students while at school."
Alison Langley is a St. Catharines-based reporter for the Niagara Falls Review. Reach her via email: alison.langley@niagaradailies.com