By Patrick Burles/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Four-year prison sentence handed to former teacher for child porn offences

Jul 10, 2018 | 3:59 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Former Lethbridge school teacher Dwayne Schnell has received a four-year prison sentence on child pornography charges.

Schnell had previously pleaded guilty to charges of making and distributing child pornography, and publication of an intimate image without consent.

The Crown had suggested five years in prison, while the defence countered by asking for two years in custody followed by three years of probation.

While delivering his decision Tuesday afternoon, July 10, Judge Eric Peterson stated that everyone should feel “revulsion” for such a crime.

“I can only express outrage at the sickening display of abuse,” added Judge Peterson, after noting that he had reviewed a portion of Schnell’s child porn collection as part of the decision-making process – a collection that consisted of 1,000 images, 600 videos, and 155 images of students that were taken without their knowledge. It was noted that the students were all fully clothed in the images, which were generally taken from behind.

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Following Schnell’s release from prison, he will be bound by a prohibition order for 10 years that will restrict his access to the internet and places where children under the age of 16 are likely to be present, with some exceptions in place.

Previous facts delivered to the court

Last October, Schnell entered his guilty pleas in connection to offences that ranged between December of 2014 and February of 2017.

Special prosecutor Carolyn Ayre provided the court with a summary of the facts in the case, saying authorities were tipped off by Skype in December of 2016, and later by Yahoo, that one of their users had been sharing child pornography. An investigation led police to obtain a search warrant for Schnell’s home, and when they informed him of their reason for being there, he told officers that he was responsible.

An examination of Schnell’s electronic devices revealed numerous online chats of a sexual nature with girls who appeared to be under the age of 18, in which he shared images of child porn.

As the investigation continued, police searched a Dropbox account that belonged to Schnell. On the account, they discovered the images of students that were taken without their knowledge. Another 55 child porn images of another youth were also found during the search.