Vancouver man pleads guilty to child pornography related charges

A 68-year-old Vancouver man was sentenced this week after a Vancouver Police investigation into child pornography.

On Monday, John Penry Roberts pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of child pornography in provincial court. He will serve 14 months in prison. “This was a disturbing investigation for detectives,” says Constable Tania Visintin, VPD. “Investigators with the VPD’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit had to sift through more than 1.9 million images and video and, as a result, identified more than 20,000 images and 4,000 videos as child pornography.” Roberts was first identified in an online child pornography sharing investigation in 2017.

A search warrant was executed in July 2018 at a Vancouver residence where he had lived for over two decades.

Multiple electronic devices were seized at the residence. The residence was located within one block of an elementary school, a daycare centre and a park.

Police are reminding the public to call 9-1-1 to report any suspicious activity.