ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Tara Bradbury
The Telegram
@tara_bradbury
As an alleged photo of his penis was displayed on computer screens in the courtroom, a 28-year-old man accused of child luring and child pornography offences turned his head and shielded his eyes with his hand Friday.
On a larger screen in the corner of the room, a teenage girl clutching a stuffed animal told the court it was the same photo the man had sent to her on Facebook when she had just turned 13.
The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the child, has pleaded not guilty to six charges laid after the girl told police he had sent her the photo and two explicit videos, and had convinced her to do the same.
Testifying in the St. John’s courtroom via video from another room at Provincial Court, the girl sat next to a support worker and clutched a stuffed toy. Two years ago, she found it very difficult to tell police what had happened, she said.
“I was too embarrassed to say those words and I was embarrassed about what I had done,” she said. “I’m older and I’m not afraid to say the words now.”
Prosecutor Nicole Hurley played for the court the girl’s videoed interview with RNC Const. Terry Follett early in 2018. She attended police headquarters with a family member, and Follett, who was then a member of the joint RNC/RCMP internet child exploitation unit, was heard in the video explaining to her the importance of her information and telling her that she was doing the right thing.
The girl told police she had been video chatting with the accused, who was known to her family, on the evening in question. He knew her age, she said, because he had wished her a happy birthday when she turned 13 in the previous few weeks.
Later in the evening he sent her a Facebook message asking her to “send nudes.”
“No you,” she wrote back.
She told Follett she hadn’t actually wanted him to send nude photos, but he did: first a photo of his penis and then two videos of himself masturbating. She recognized the room in the background of the video as a bedroom in the home where the man was living, she told Follett.
The child told Follett the man had repeatedly asked her for images, saying it was her turn and she had to do it. She sent him a semi-nude photo, she said, and a 30-second selfie video. She began to cry when Follett asked her to describe what the video contained.
“I’m not judging you and you’re not in any trouble. I’m here to help you,” Follett told the girl, softening his voice. “Over the past seven or eight years, I’ve talked to lots of kids your age and younger. I know you’re probably thinking you did something bad, but I don’t want you to feel like that.”
Unable to speak the words, the girl wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to Follett, describing the content of the video. He read her words aloud, and she confirmed he had understood them correctly.
The child said she had told the man she had to go, then deleted the images and the entire Facebook Messenger conversation after that.
“I was scared and afraid someone would find out what had happened,” she told Follett.
The man had asked her to delete the texts and not tell anyone about them, she said.
She told a family member, and the man was confronted that night.
“We shouldn’t talk anymore. Why would you tell (a family member) I asked you for nudes? I didn’t ask you for nudes. Wow, WTF. Why would you go and say that?” he allegedly messaged her.
The girl said her family members encouraged her to go to police.
“What would you like to happen?” Follett asked her at the end of her interview.
“I’d like to forget it,” she told him, adding she didn’t think it was up to her to decide whether or not to proceed with the police investigation. “It’s an adult’s choice.”
“It’s your choice,” Follett told her, explaining police had resources to help her deal with the situation and a potential court case.
When Follett asked the girl if she wanted the man to get in trouble with police, she said yes.
“He’s an adult, I’m not. I’m still learning,” she said.
“Exactly,” Follett replied.
On cross-examination, defence lawyer Jeffrey Slade spoke gently when he pointed out the girl had made her Facebook account by saying she was older than her age and questioned her on her certainty that it was the accused who had sent her the images, since his face was not visible in them.
“Could it have been someone else?” he asked.
“No. I’m positive,” the child replied.
The trial will continue Thursday, when Follett is expected to testify.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury Facebook: @telegramtara
