63% of accused sex offenders avoid punishment; Peel’s ICE unit just put two away in one month 

Content Warning: This story details graphic examples of child sexual abuse material that some readers may find disturbing. 

In Christopher DaSilva’s case, the court reported that he had a “deep-rooted behaviour” of viewing child porngraphy, generating a “massive” collection of images and videos. 

In Joseph Kalina’s case, the court found he did not truly acknowledge the harm he had caused by amassing a collection of child pornography that included thousands of images and hours of video—99 percent of the children depicted were under the age of 10. 

The total number of victims in both cases remains unknown. 

Both men were arrested by the Peel Regional Police after investigations by the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, and in January both were sentenced to jail time for their crimes.

It’s a significant success for a unit that has worked to address a surge in availability, accessibility and sharing of child pornography—also known as child sexual abuse material (CSAM)—despite the number officers in the unit remaining relatively stagnant in recent years. This is despite an unprecedented budget increase of $144 million in 2025. 

As previously reported by The Pointer, Peel’s ICE unit has reached a ceiling with the number of cases they are able to take on in a given year. The resources and officer time it takes to analyze the devices and files for potential CSAM, and then to view this harmful content to ensure it meets the Criminal Code definition, is substantial.

In DaSilva’s case, ICE officers seized a laptop computer, five cell phones, and eight storage devices from the 41-year-old when he was arrested in October 2022 at his Mississauga home. There were 35,690 images and 194 videos accounting for 21 hours of footage classified as Category 1—showing a person under the age of 18 engaged in, or depicted as engaged in, sexual activity. Some of these files were also being shared over a BitTorrent Network. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. 

From Kalina, an 81-year-old man, police seized four USB storage devices, two of which were plugged into a tablet connected to his living room television. There were 7,308 images and 513 videos that qualified as CSAM. The five hours and 45 minutes of video and thousands of images depicted heinous abuse of young girls, 99 percent of them under the age of 10. 

“An example was highlighted depicting a girl of less than 8 years old who was tied face down to a table by her arms and legs.  She was being sexually assaulted by an adult male,” Justice Andrew Falls described in his January 21st reasons for sentencing. 

Kalina was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail. 

Peel’s ICE unit has been warning about cases just like these for several years. In 2019, a presentation to the Peel Police Services Board warned of the “investigative strain” caused by the growing amount of data in need of categorization. In 2019, the unit was handling 14 terabytes of extractive files, nearly 10 times the amount from the year before. It’s a number that is only projected to increase as data-sharing networks improve and new methods for sharing and creating CSAM expand. 

In July last year, The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) issued a renewed warning about a “significant and growing threat” from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create CSAM. In October 2023, the IWF raised the alarm when a search of 20,000 AI-generated images on a dark web forum found 3,000 of them being classified as CSAM. 

“Since then the issue has escalated and continues to evolve,” the 2024 report states, noting that the amount of AI-generated CSAM is increasing and so is the severity of the acts depicted. 

The rise in AI will only complicate the work of police services who have yet to adequately resource themselves to handle the rise in CSAM over the last 10 years. 

According to Statistics Canada data: between 2014 and 2022, there were 45,816 incidents of online child pornography in Canada. Over the same time period the rate of police-reported incidents of child exploitation and abuse have nearly tripled and the rate of online child pornography almost quadrupled from 32 incidents per 100,000 children and youth in 2014 and  125 incidents per 100,000 in 2022.

Police-reported child pornography cases spiked 35 percent in 2020, the first year of the pandemic; online child sexual exploitation and abuse increased 28 percent in 2020. 

Charges for making and distributing child porngraphy are largely responsible for the rapid increase in cases of online child sexual exploitation in Canada since 2014.

(Statistics Canada)

The convictions of both DaSilva and Kalina are a rarity for these types of crimes. Statistics Canada data show between 2014 and 2022, 85 percent of child pornography incidents were not solved—meaning neither a victim or an accused could be identified. Of those cases that did go to court between 2014 and 2020, only 36 percent of charges laid for child sexual offences committed online resulted in the accused being found guilty. Many fail due to the lack of available evidence to proceed with laying a charge.

The sentences involving incarceration are a testament to the courts beginning to accept the significant impact this crime has on its victims. 

Despite both men having mitigating factors in their cases that could have seen in the judges avoid handing down jail time, both judges recognized the need to send a strong message other offenders that if they abuse children online—whether that’s making CSAM, viewing it, or sharing it—they can expect jail time when they get caught. 

In the case of DaSilva, a first time offender who showed remorse for his actions and was showing promising signs in therapy to deal with “deep-rooted” attraction to underage girls and boys, was still given jail time.

“Possessing child pornography is a grave offence that causes significant harm to children. Therefore, the principles of denunciation and general deterrence must be the paramount considerations,” the sentencing decision from Justice P.T. O’Marra details. 

For Kalina, an 81-year-old, his age was taken as a potential mitigating factor to avoid a custodial sentence. 

Justice Falls disagreed, noting the man’s inability to truly grasp the harm he had caused, combined with the need to deter others, outweighed the impact jail time could have on the senior citizen. 

“Through his lawyer, Mr. Kalina expressed remorse for his actions.  I accept that there is some truth to this.  As I noted Mr. Kalina spoke of his embarrassment in the PSR.  He offered to donate $10,000 to a local youth organization if I did not incarcerate him,” Justice Falls writes. “Mr. Kalina continues to not appreciate that every time he viewed a child pornographic image or video, he revictimized the child.  His possession contributed to the harm visited on the child…For offenders who continue to engage in distorted and minimized thinking, less weight is attached to their expression of remorse.”

All types of online sexual exploitation of children is on the rise in Canada.

(Statistics Canada)

The number of instances of online child sexual exploitation  reported by police, which includes CSAM and other charges like luring, does not capture the true scale of this crime. 

Online luring is another crime increasing at disturbing rates, surging 69% between 2014 and 2022. In 2022, luring accounted for three-quarters (75%) of online sexual offences against children.

Similar to human trafficking, a crime that is difficult to detect and has deep-rooted stigmas that can prevent victims from coming forward, CSAM and other online crimes involving children are drastically underreported. 

“[This] can be partially attributed to the limited ability of young, dependent children to report, or even recognize, online sexual abuse. In these cases, reporting often depends on an adult bringing the offence to the attention of police,” a Statistics Canada report explains.  

“Sexual offences involving youth victims are also underreported, perhaps due to humiliation or embarrassment. Victims may also be blackmailed or threatened into silence.

“As such, it is difficult to quantify the true prevalence of online child sexual exploitation in Canada using only police-reported statistics.”

Email: [email protected]

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you