Kamloops teacher acquitted of possessing child pornography
Posted May 14, 2015 7:40 pm.
Last Updated May 14, 2015 9:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KAMLOOPS (NEWS1130) – A retired special-education teacher in Kamloops has been acquitted of possessing child pornography after insisting he is not a pervert.
Sixty-six-year-old former teacher Jerry Waselenkoff says he is exhausted after his legal experience but relieved at being found not guilty.
In the fall of 2012 a downstairs neighbour came across binders of discs containing child porn stashed in the floor beneath Waselenkoff’s apartment.
Speaking in court on Thursday, BC Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem told the court Waselenkoff’s testimony was carefully woven and spun in his favour.
But Meiklem said the Crown ultimately failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the illegal material belonged to the accused.
Waselenkoff admitted in court on Wednesday to regularly watching adult porn and said it’s a normal pastime for many men. He told the court he occasionally stumbled across child porn while clicking on other links.
Waselenkoff says he would like to return to working with children who suffer from dyslexia.
