B.C. man gets 11 years for child sex tourism
CBC News, Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Kenneth Klassen, 59, of Burnaby, B.C., was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for committing sex tourism with children and importing child pornography.
Klassen received 10 years for the sex-tourism charges and one year for importing pornography.
Prior to his sentencing in B.C. Superior Court in Vancouver, Klassen offered an apology.
Kenneth
Klassen received 10 years for the sex-tourism charges and one year
for importing pornography. (CBC)
"I'm sorry for what I've done with all my heart," he said.
Klassen pleaded guilty to having sex with more than a dozen underage girls in Cambodia and Colombia. He unsuccessfully challenged Canada's sex tourism law when he argued that the incidents happened in other countries where Canadian courts have no jurisdiction.
Justice Austin Cullen said he found Klassen's acts "intensive, intrusive and degrading," and that his "moral blameworthiness was high."
He also said Klassen showed "less than complete remorse," and that if his videos had not been discovered by customs officials he would not have been caught.
The investigation was triggered by the interception at Vancouver International Airport of a suspicious package of DVDs from the Philippines in 2004.
The DVDs contained video recordings of Klassen engaged in sex with numerous young females aged nine to 18. The DVDs, which were bought overseas, carried titles such as "first timer" and "child abuse."
The RCMP monitored the parcel's pickup and arrested Klassen.
Police then searched his Burnaby storage locker and found images of the man with girls.
Klassen was charged with 35 counts in 2007 under Canada's child sex tourism laws. The charges included sexual interference, sexual touching, procuring and making child pornography.
He pleaded guilty to 14 of those charges in May 2010.
"We must vigilantly stand on guard within our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are our proud heritage......we cannot take for granted the continuance and maintenance of those rights and freedoms."
John Diefenbaker
(1895-1979)
About The truth
"All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed, Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur
Schopenhauer
(1788-1860)
"In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect."
Bill Clinton
(William J. Clinton)
42nd President of The United States of America
Canada's
national "Child Day"
November 20th
Canada's "Child Day" is held on November 20th each year as designated by the Parliament of Canada in 1993.
It commemorates the United Nations adoption of two landmark documents concerned with the human rights of all children and youths. Read More ..
Canadian appointed U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour took up her duties on July 1, 2004 as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her term in office ended in June 2008.
Mrs. Arbour was a member of the Supreme Court of Canada immediately preceding her appointment to the UN as Commissioner for Human Rights.
Louise Arbour: a colleague we have failed
Law Times, Canada
22 September 2008
This profession - and all of us in it - have failed to protect, honour, and defend one of our most accomplished and distinguished members. We have let Louise Arbour down by our silence when she needed and deserved voices of support.
On July 1, Arbour stepped down as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, an enormously prestigious and important international position.
The gratitude and praise which greeted her at the end of her term was shamefully muted. Arbour was a courageous champion of human rights, and a bold critic of the erosion of those basic tenets in our world.
She was never timid. She was never chained to a desk, was involved, hands on, outspoken, and challenging. She breathed life into the enormous portfolio that she was asked to take on.