ABBOTSFORD MEN JEFFERY ARMSTRONG AND CHRISTOPHER LAMB SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN 2011

In March 2011, two men from Abbotsford were sentenced to jail for possessing child pornography. Jeffery Michael Armstrong, aged 35, received a four-month prison sentence, while 27-year-old Christopher Robert Lamb was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Both men were also placed on two years of probation following their guilty pleas to the charges.

During Armstrong's sentencing, Provincial Court Judge Donald Gardner reviewed evidence including two videos and some still images seized by investigators in February 2009. Judge Gardner described one video as showing an adult female holding a child's shoulders while performing a sexual act on an adult male. He remarked, "All of the exhibits are disturbing because they deal with children ... as young as three or four years old. ... for children to be so dreadfully victimized is because there is a market for it."

In determining Armstrong’s sentence, the judge considered his remorse, engagement in counselling, family support, and consistent employment as a cook. Defence lawyer Gordon Dykstra had argued for a jail term between three and four months, whereas Crown prosecutor Sylvia Domaradzki recommended a sentence of nine to twelve months.

Armstrong was first charged in February 2009 after U.S. authorities notified local police that a computer in Abbotsford had downloaded child pornography. The investigation traced the activity to a residence on Eaglecrest Drive, where police executed a search warrant and seized seven CDs stored in a dresser drawer in Armstrong’s bedroom, along with seven videos. These discs contained 135 images of child pornography, matching the content on four of the videos.

Lamb faced similar charges and was arrested in connection with Project Salvo, Canada’s largest coordinated operation targeting child pornography, in March 2009. Police executed a search warrant at his home on Sherwood Crescent and confiscated a computer containing prohibited material. Lamb pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography but went to trial on a separate count of making child pornography available. He was acquitted of that charge in December, and on Monday, he was sentenced for the possession of child pornography.