Another psychiatric evaluation ordered for Salmon Arm man who tricked child – Salmon Arm News

Photo: Luc Rempel

A Salmon Arm man who pleaded guilty to child sex charges has had his sentence postponed for a second time while another psychiatric evaluation is completed.

Brecken Peters He pleaded guilty to one count in January possession of child pornography and one count of child luring. At that time the sentence was set for April postponed to November Thus, the psychiatric evaluation can be completed.

BC Supreme Court Justice Brad Smith presided over Peters’ sentencing hearing, which began Tuesday in Salmon Arm.

According to the agreed facts, Peters’ cell phone was seized by police following a Snapchat report that suspected child pornography had been uploaded to Peters’ account.

Investigators found 13 similar images and 78 videos on the device.

Hired as ‘sex slave’

It was determined that thousands of other videos and images on the phone were about children, but they did not meet the definition of child pornography.

The phone also contained recordings of messages Peters shared with 13 underage girls in which he attempted to pay them to hire them as “sex slaves.” The messages formed the basis of the child luring charge.

The court heard Peters was sending messages to underage girls on Instagram and Snapchat. The girls were between 13 and 17 years old. In one case, he stopped messaging someone who said he was 20 years old.

The incidents all occurred in 2021, when Peters was 23 years old.

Peters himself appeared on stage for the sentencing; His parents were also sitting next to him in court. His grandfather also attended the meeting.

Crown seeks federal time

The Crown is seeking a prison sentence of up to three years for Peters; 12 months for child pornography and another 18 to 24 months for deception.

Defense attorney Glenn Verdurmen said no interaction resulted in the sending of pornographic images and no exchange lasted more than a day.

A previous psychiatric evaluation revealed that Peters had no cognitive impairment. The doctor diagnosed him with pedophilic disorder, depression and possibly autism.

Verdurmen argued that the diagnoses stated in the psychiatric report affected Peters’ ability to make decisions at the time of the crimes and that the sentence should be in Peters’ favor. The Crown disagreed.

Smith said he needed more information.

Sentencing was deferred pending further psychiatric evaluation of Peters; In this evaluation, it will be evaluated to what extent his cognitive ability is impaired due to mental disorders, especially during the events.

A new sentencing date has not been set but the court heard the review is expected to take around nine weeks.

Peters is not in custody.