Canadian Judge Gives Child Predator Slap on Wrist, Argues His Collection of Horrific Abuse Material Was 'Modest' in Size

A British Columbia judge has sparked outrage after refusing to send a convicted child predator to prison, arguing the man’s stash of abuse material was “relatively modest” in size.

Mark Keenan, 54, of Kelowna, pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography but will not serve a single day in jail.

Instead, Judge Andrew Tam ruled that the offender could serve his sentence at home because his collection of horrific abuse material wasn’t the largest he had come across.

Tam sentenced Keenan to a conditional sentence of two years minus one day, with the first 18 months to be served under house arrest.

After the first 18 months, Keenan will transition to a 6 p.m. curfew for the remainder.

He will also be on probation for an additional year and must submit a DNA sample.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched Keenan’s home in 2018 after flagging his social media presence on Tumblr.

Investigators found six images of boys between nine and sixteen in explicit sexual situations, including one of an adult man touching a child’s genitals.

Judge Tam acknowledged the disturbing nature of the images but emphasized that Keenan’s case was “different.”

The judge argued that Keenan’s collection was “relatively” small.

“Although there is no strict mathematical relationship between the size of the collection and the length (or indeed type) of sentence, the size of a collection has often been held to be an aggravating factor,” Tam wrote.

“It stands to reason then that a modest collection, while not a mitigating factor, could nevertheless distinguish it from other cases.”

Keenan told authorities he was not sexually attracted to children and only stumbled on the material while “searching for other images such as sunsets and beaches.”

He further claimed he had created a Tumblr blog as a kind of “undercover sting” to catch pedophiles.

However, he provided no evidence to support these claims.

The judge dismissed those claims, pointing out that Keenan had kept the images for over a year and engaged in online conversations with other users expressing interest in sexual activity with minors.

“The most damning evidence will come from Mr. Keenan’s own mouth,” Tam noted.

“Upon his arrest, he gave a voluntary statement to police.

“When confronted with the Tumblr messages and asked if he were aroused by them, he replied, ‘I mean, in a way, it’s hard not to be.’”

Despite condemning Keenan’s actions, Tam cited his lack of a criminal record and letters of support from the community in granting him house arrest.

The case comes amid mounting concern over the prevalence of child pornography and trafficking in Canada.

Canada remains one of the largest exporters of pornography, with Pornhub, which is headquartered in Montreal, facing intense scrutiny for hosting exploitative material.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s exposé “The Children of Pornhub” found the platform “is infested with rape videos … (i)t monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cams of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags …

“Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are.”

Kristof concluded bluntly: “Pornhub is Jeffrey Epstein times 1,000.”

In response to growing outrage, some Canadian provinces are moving to tighten restrictions.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s Conservative government announced plans in May to ban books with pornographic and sexually explicit content, including those with LGBT and pedophilic themes, from school libraries.