(BlackburnNews.com file photo, courtesy blogspot.com.)(BlackburnNews.com file photo, courtesy blogspot.com.)
Midwestern

Listowel man sentenced on child porn and luring charges

A former OPP officer has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for possessing child pornography and paying to have children in foreign countries involved in sex acts that he could watch over Skype.

John Paul Stone, 57, of Listowel was sentenced Wednesday in a Stratford courtroom.

The court heard that Stone used Skype on multiple occasions between March and June 2014 to arrange sex acts and offered money in return, with several bank and Western Union transactions matching the amounts mentioned in the Skype conversations.

Investigators discovered the Skype conversations after seizing several computers, hard drives, USB devices and cellphones from Stone’s Listowel home through a search warrant in July 2015.

A long list of charges was laid at that time, and Stone pleaded guilty to two of them this past December.

Lawyers asked for Stone to be sent to the Correctional and Treatment Centre in Brockville, so he can receive treatment for ongoing psychological issues.

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