A Sault Ste. Marie man who had a significant collection of child pornography faces 15 months behind bars.
Aaron Welter's jail term will be followed by two years of probation, a judge decided Friday.
The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography part way through his trial last year.
Ontario Court Justice Romuald Kwolek heard the offence occurred between Jan. 23, 2021 and Dec. 17 of the same year.
Welter initially pleaded not guilty to two child pornography charges, including the more serious offence of making child exploitation material available.
After his Charter application to have evidence found on his cell phone excluded was denied in June, he pleaded guilty to the possession charge.
An agreed statement of facts indicated that Sault Police began an investigation after receiving information from Kik, a social media application, and the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.
Kik discovered child sexual abuse material, consisting of 16 videos, on its platform between Jan. 23 and Jan. 25, 2021.
A search warrant identified an IP address on St. George's Avenue East in the Sault.
City police executed a second warrant at the residence, where they seized a device belonging to Welter.
A Technological Crime Unit computer forensic examiner located 10 unique images and 181 unique videos that met the definition of child pornography.
The run time for the videos was more than four and a half hours.
The ages of the victims were estimated to be between two and 10 years of age.
At a sentencing hearing on Nov. 17, prosecutor Matthew Caputo called for a sentence of two years less a day in a provincial facility.
Defence lawyer Naomi Sayers proposed a conditional sentence, which would be served in the community, suggesting Welter would be eligible for GPS monitoring.
Both lawyers agreed that the custodial sentence should be followed by a period of probation.
In a 15-page written decision, Kwolek noted the size of the collection is relatively small compared to many child pornography cases before the courts.
However, the nature of the material, which included one example of bestiality, is "clearly an aggravating factor" given the types of images and the ages of the victims.
This collection is a significant one but would not be considered large, the judge said.
Kwolek cited the accused's guilty plea and lack of a prior criminal record as mitigating.
"The plea of guilt is an admission of wrongdoing and is indicative of remorse."
As well, Welter, who was employed as a fishing guide at a fly-in camp, is a productive member of the community, who assisted his mother with whom he resided.
During his probation, Welter must take any recommended counselling, including for sexual offending.
Kwolek also imposed a number of ancillary orders, which require Welter to provide a DNA sample for the national database and to report to authorities under the Sexual Offender Information Registration Act for 20 years.
As well, he is prohibited for 10 years from attending numerous places, such as public parks and swimming areas, schoolyards, playgrounds and day care centres where there are young people under the age of 16.
The order also places six restrictions on his access to the Internet and devices.