What happens when justice turns its back on children? Outrage is erupting across Canada after a British Columbia judge handed a convicted child predator a slap on the wrist — sparing him prison time because his collection of child abuse material was deemed “relatively modest.”
Mark Keenan, 54, of Kelowna, admitted to possessing and distributing disturbing images of children, some as young as nine. Investigators discovered explicit material showing minors being sexually assaulted, along with online chats where Keenan openly discussed attraction to children. He even admitted to police that the material aroused him.
And yet — instead of prison — Judge Andrew Tam ruled Keenan could serve his two-year sentence at home. The reasoning? His stash of abuse images wasn’t as large as in other cases.
For the first 18 months, Keenan will sit under house arrest. After that, just a nightly curfew. No jail. No real justice for the victims.
This shocking leniency has fueled fury across the country, especially as Canada continues to grapple with the rise of child exploitation and the role of companies like Pornhub — headquartered in Montreal — which has faced global condemnation for hosting child abuse content. Critics argue cases like Keenan’s only embolden predators and expose the cracks in a system that seems more forgiving to offenders than protective of children.
Parents and advocates are now demanding answers: how can a judge downplay the severity of child sexual abuse by calling it “modest”? And what message does this send to predators lurking online?
