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Former Alberta Party leadership candidate 'worst of the worst' child porn offenders, says Crown

Meghan Grant | CBC News | Posted: July 24, 2018 10:35 PM | Last Updated: July 24, 2018

Prosecution seeking seven years in prison for offences

Image | Troy Millington

Caption: Troy Millington was convicted by a jury in April of three child porn-related offences. (Campaign photo)

A former Alberta Party leadership candidate is one of the "worst of the worst offenders" and should be sent to prison for seven years for child pornography offences, argued the prosecution.
Troy Millington was convicted by a jury in April of three child porn-related offences despite his defence that he had sexual images and videos of children on his computer because he was trying to rid the world of child pornography.
During a sentencing hearing that took place Tuesday, Justice Kim Nixon was told that according to a pre-sentencing report, Millington has shown "no remorse" and has no insight into the damage he's done to his victims.
"He believes he is above the law," said prosecutor Jenny Rees. "This is one of the worst of the worst offenders."
Millington — who has represented himself throughout the proceedings — began his sentencing submissions by trying to convince the judge to adjourn the hearing, order a stay of proceedings, "reopen the trial" or declare a mistrial. Nixon denied all requests before telling Millington to "get on with it" and had to repeatedly ask the offender what he was proposing for a sentence.
Finally, just before the lunch break, Millington said he believed that time served — 89 days — would be a fit and proper sentence, but Rees reminded him of the mandatory minimum of one year in jail for his offences.
"It'll be fun times after the break," Millington declared.
After the break, Millington argued the collateral effects of his charges — including the press coverage and the loss of his social network and contacts — should be taken into account when the judge considers a sentence.
And, if one of the key principles of a sentence is denunciation and deterrence, Millington proclaimed: "I'm deterred."
"Additional time, additional punishment … I don't believe are necessary."
Nixon will deliver her decision on Wednesday.

Thousands of images, videos found

In 2016, police found thousands of images and videos of child pornography on Millington's home computer equipment.
During the trial, Millington said he had the images and videos on his computer because he was trying to rid the world of child pornography by creating an algorithm or program that would prevent dissemination of the images. He reiterated his position during the sentencing hearing.
"There's a way to remove it, there's a way to eradicate it," he said.
Rees called Millington's explanation "ridiculous and absurd" and reminded the judge that the jury had already rejected his defence.
In 2013, Millington ran, unsuccessfully, for the leadership of the Alberta Party. The next year, he represented the same party as a candidate in the Calgary-West byelection but lost.

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