Chetwynd man receives eight months in jail for making, distributing child pornography

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Chetwynd man was sentenced to eight months in prison on Thursday for making and distributing child pornography via Snapchat in 2020.

Justice Andrew Majawa handed down the judgement on February 22nd in Fort St. John Supreme Court after George Joseph Harroff, also known as Tyler Harroff, pleaded guilty on August 20th, 2023, to making and transmitting child pornography.

According to Majawa’s decision, the circumstances of the offences are taken from the agreed statement of facts filed at the sentencing hearing in December.

On November 7th, 2020, Harroff, 18 at the time, travelled from Chetwynd to Fort St. John, where he attended a restaurant with the 13-year-old victim, identified as D.V., and other individuals between 17 and 20 years old.

The victim’s name was not revealed due to a publication ban imposed because of her age.

Harroff knew some of the people at the restaurant but had not met D.V. before.

Once everyone left the restaurant, they purchased alcohol and went to the home of an individual identified as L.G., who was 17 at the time. Others were already at the house, and the gathering turned into a party.

Majawa wrote that Harroff consumed alcohol before and during the party, but there is no indication of how much he had or if he was intoxicated.

Harroff used his cell phone to record a 17-year-old male and Anthony Collins having sex and engaging in sexual activity with D.V. in two of the bathrooms at L.G.’s place.

Collins was later charged with the sexual assault of D.V., and he pleaded guilty on July 20th, 2023. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

According to Majawa, the videos were not viewed at the sentencing hearing, but the descriptions of those videos “leave no doubt that they are graphic and disturbing.”

“They depict one individual having intercourse with D.V. and at one point another individual enters the bathroom, grabs D.V. in the breast area and urinates on the two of them,” wrote Majawa. 

“The other video depicts Mr. Collins having sexual intercourse with D.V.”

After recording and while still at the party, Harroff sent the videos via Snapchat to three or four people who were in attendance, including Collins.

On the day of the party, Harroff did not know D.V. was 13 years old — he says he was told she was 17 or 18. It wasn’t until weeks later that he discovered her age.

Through an RCMP investigation, Harroff was made aware the videos had been shared and seen by people other than those he sent the videos to.

D.V. read her victim impact statement about the effect of the recording and the distribution of the videos of her sexual assault, and Majawa summarized her statement in his report.

“She told the court that she has experienced a great deal of pain, sadness, anger, grief and humiliation arising from Mr. Harroff’s actions,” Majawa wrote.

“She has had difficulty attending school in the years since and stated that her life “went to hell” after the incident, and this was in large part because of the existence of the videos.”

She said that if Harroff had never recorded the videos, her experience would not have been as traumatizing.

Majawa wrote that he has considered her statement carefully and has no doubt the impact on her is significant.

“D.V. endured the traumatizing experience of being sexually assaulted by more than one person that evening at the house party,” Majawa wrote.

“In addition, she has to live with the fact that recordings were made of those assaults and shared with others. These recordings were made when, as she appropriately described, she was in her absolutely most vulnerable state.”

Majawa says Harroff took responsibility for his actions and demonstrated “some remorse.”

Harroff denied that the videos were intended for or were ever used for a sexual purpose. 

In the agreed statement of facts, Harroff said he decided to start filming because others were laughing and thought it was funny at the time. 

He shared the videos to engage in an “inside joke” with the people who were witnesses to the assault, and he did not think about those videos being shared beyond that.

Harroff does not object to reporting conditions or sexual behaviour programming or counselling. 

However, he has not taken it upon himself to start any counselling in the more than two years since he was arrested.

Though Majawa did not have a psychiatric assessment of Harroff, he agrees with the Crown and the defence that he is unlikely to re-offend.

Majawa also ruled he will not be required to register as a sex offender due to his age at the time, that he didn’t plan the crime and that he is unlikely to re-offend.

“Unlike many cases involving child pornography, I accept that Mr. Harroff did not have a pedophilic sexual motivation for creating and distributing the videos,” Majawa wrote.

Since his charges, Majawa says Harroff has moved away from Chetwynd, found new friends and is no longer in contact with the people involved in the sexual assault.

Harroff was sentenced to eight months in prison on the count of making child pornography and eight months on the count of distributing child pornography. 

The sentences will be served concurrently, meaning Harroff will spend eight months in prison.

Following imprisonment, Harroff is sentenced to 18 months probation with conditions to “keep the peace and be of good behaviour,” appearing in court when required, reporting to his probation officer and not contacting D.V.

Harroff will also be required to attend, participate in and complete any intake, assessment, counselling or education as directed by the probation officer, which may include counselling or programming for sexual offence prevention.

Harroff must also submit DNA samples and pay a victim surcharge.

Majawa’s full report on reasons for judgment can be found here.