Former Gretna pastor sentenced for child porn, voyeurism

A former pastor at a Mennonite church inthe southern Manitoba community of Gretnahas been sentenced to nearly five years behind bars for recording images of two young girls in a bathroom.

Marco Funk had pleaded guilty to 12 charges,including voyeurism, accessing child pornography andpossessing child pornography.

The chargesrelated to a 2012 incident where two female youths from the Rural Municipality of Rhineland visiting Moose Lake Provincial Park discovered a mobile device inside a washroom where they were staying that had recorded still images and video of them.

The incident was reported to RCMP in late 2013. The police laid seven charges against him in May of 2014 and then another five in October of 2015.

• RCMP arrest former Gretna pastor on voyeurism, child-porn charges

On Friday, Justice Ken Champagne sentenced Funk in the Steinbach courtto 56 months in prison.

He also orderedFunk'sname be added to the sex offender registry and banned him from working as a volunteer in positions where he may have charge of children under 16 years of age.

Funk's lawyer, Iain McNair, says he will likely serve his prison sentence at Stony Mountain Institution. He said Funk has no previous criminal record.