ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A Kilbride man charged after police found child pornography on his computer and removable data storage drives in his home was cleared of the charges Friday, as the Crown conceded the case.
Thomas O'Grady, 53, had been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography after police received information about a local IP address (a specific computer identification number) being involved in accessing the material online. A search warrant was executed on the home he shares with four family members, and police located hundreds of examples of child pornography on a desktop computer and a portable hard drive from the basement rec room, as well as a jump drive from his bedroom.
The fact that the child pornography existed on the devices was not contested by O'Grady's lawyer, Rosellen Sullivan, at trial; the issue was whether or not there was any evidence linking O'Grady to the illegal material.
With a large sigh, prosecutor Paul Thistle told Judge Lori Marshall he had reviewed in particular the evidence of Scott Frankland, a former RCMP officer specializing in computer forensics and internet crimes who had testified as an expert witness for the defence.
"When I look at the evidence as a whole, Your Honour, especially in light of Mr. Frankland's testimony over the past couple days, I do not see a conviction here," Thistle said. "I do not see proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
The judge agreed.
"The bottom line, after (the Crown) having presented the case based on the evidence that was given to him by the police, was that it just didn't add up to proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Marshall said. "I am satisfied, confident that the submission of Mr. Thistle is the right one."
Marshall then dismissed the charges against O'Grady.
Thistle had called a number of witnesses to testify, including police and civilian members of the investigative team that had executed a search warrant on O'Grady's home in April 2017, as well as O'Grady's girlfriend and the three family members living in the home at the time. They each told the court they had never seen or accessed any child pornography on any device in the home.
Frankland, who was the only witness called by the defence, testified as an expert witness and criticized the joint RNC/RCMP investigation in the case, telling the court there had been significant errors made and evidence omitted. He focused most of his testimony on a lengthy report on the evidence completed by one of the civilian tech experts, and said he believed, based on that report alone, there was no proof that any of the devices seized by police had been responsible for accessing child pornography. There was also nothing to pinpoint O'Grady as the one who did it, Frankland testified.
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