A 47-year-old Saanich man previously convicted of possessing child pornography was found guilty of the same crime while on parole last week.
Melvin Shaw was sentenced July 16 to 12 months in prison, to be served concurrently with his former federal sentence.
In July 2011, Shaw was convicted of possessing child pornography and sexual assault of a minor, said Shaw’s defence lawyer Robert Jones.
To Jones’ knowledge, this was Shaw’s first criminal offence.
Shaw was then sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but was released on parole in August 2013.
After living at the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Victoria, Shaw moved to a rooming house in Saanich last February, when his parole officer paid him a visit.
“[She] had authority to go to his residence to see that he was following the terms of his parole conditions,” Jones said.
The officer found one DVD that appeared to have a handwritten title on it, he said.
“As a result of looking at [the DVD], she noticed two, possibly three video shorts on there that displayed child pornography.”
The parole officer then reported the incident to the Saanich Police Department, who obtained a search warrant and seized his possessions before Shaw was returned to prison.
Shaw is currently serving his sentence at a federal penitentiary in Abbotsford.
He will be eligible for parole again in January 2015, but that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily be released, Jones said.
“The parole board can release him assuming that he’s not a danger to himself or others, and assuming they’re satisfied that he’s made good progress while he’s in prison,” he said.
andrea.peacock@vicnews.com
