Trial concludes for Yellowknife man charged with 2 child porn offenses

After several months, atrial for a man charged with crimes of child pornographyended Monday.

Russ Jones was charged with possession and transmission of child pornography in July 2020 after a lengthy investigation dating back to 2019. His trial in Northwest Territories Supreme Court began in May of this year.

Jones appeared with his attorney Jay Bran in a Yellowknife courtroom for closing statements Monday.

Bran suggested the defence of "innocent possession"to Justice Shannon Smallwood when it came to Jones possessing multiple photos depicting child pornography.

The accused has maintained he encountered the photos by accident, and planned to notify authorities before being intercepted by the police investigation.

Jones says he was not using or distributing any of the content saved to his computer.

The images were later found on several devices.

Crown prosecutor Morgan Fanedescribed the images in detail to court attendees, arguing for "intentional possession,"saying that Jones continued to access and download the images over a period of years.

Jones was living alone at the time of arrest, with a computer exclusively in his control.

The court will reconvene on December 14 for verdict.