Lanark early childhood educator lived ‘hidden life’ collecting child pornography

PERTH — A woman who worked as an early childhood educator at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School in Lanark Highlands will serve three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

Justice David Paciocco called Bridget Theobald’s child pornography collection “massive and vile.”

Theobald, 33, was charged with possessing, making available and accessing child pornography in September 2011 after an undercover online investigation involving the Perth Police and the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit.

She was sentenced Nov. 29 after pleading guilty in July 2012 to possessing and making available child pornography. The charge of accessing child pornography was stayed.

After obtaining a search warrant, police searched the home where Theobald lived with her parents in Perth on Sept. 26, 2011, and confiscated three computers and other equipment, including external hard drives and DVDs that contained images, videos and stories depicting child sexual abuse.

At Theobald’s sentencing, the court heard for the first time the details of the material found in Theobald’s home.

Reading the agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Megan Williams told the court that Theobald had spent 10 years amassing a collection of more than 22,000 images, 30 hours’ worth of video and almost 5,000 text stories until her arrest in 2011.

The children’s ages ranged from months-old babies to 14-year olds, and the majority of the children were less than five years old. Boys and girls were depicted equally throughout the collection.

Williams told the court 80 per cent of the images depicted actual sex acts with children. Torture and incest were themed throughout the material. Some of the text stories focused on teacher/student relationships, and one of the videos was an instructional movie on how to sexually assault a pre-pubescent female.

Bestiality involving adults and children was also found in the collection.

Williams also told the court that Det. Const. Melanie Power with the OPP Child Exploitation Unit said the material was some of the most disturbing she had ever seen.

Power also said the volume of the material was above average for child pornography collectors and said the abuse depicted in the collection was “ extremely intrusive.”

Paciocco called the abuse of babies and young children in Theobald’s collection “heinous.”

“You do present a danger to children,” he said.

After her arrest, Theobald sent a letter of resignation to the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario in October 2011.

In January 2013, the College of Early Childhood Educators’ discipline committee revoked her certificate of registration.

In addition to her jail term, Paciocco ordered that Theobald be registered under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act. She is also banned from using the Internet for the rest of her life, unless it is a requirement for schooling. Theobald is also prohibited from communicating with anyone under the age of 16 and attending places where children under 16 years old might be present, including public parks or swimming pools, unless she is accompanied by an adult who is aware of her conviction.

She also cannot work or volunteer anywhere that involves children under the age of 16.