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In August 2012, Pattison — who is from Marshall, near Lloydminster — was sentenced to five years for collecting more than 4,500 child pornography images and videos, most of them depicting extreme sexual abuse of girls under the age of five. The Crown prosecutor in that case, Michael Segu, described Pattison as the “worst offender” he had seen in 12 years of prosecuting such cases.

Pattison’s five-year sentence was, and remains, the highest in Saskatchewan for child pornography crimes, although another five-year sentence was handed down in April 2013 to Darrel Donald Stupnikoff, who had a prior conviction for possessing child pornography when he was caught with more than 80,000 images and videos.

The sentencing judge in Pattison’s case, Justice Mona Dovell, described Pattison’s collection of material as very troubling “due to its degree of depravity and its magnitude.”

During an online chat with a like-minded man in Idaho, Pattison said he and his girlfriend were trying to have a baby and that he intended to begin using the infant “for a sex toy” as soon as it was born, court heard during his sentencing.

Pattison was considered of sufficient risk to reoffend that the Parole Board of Canada did not grant him day parole or full parole (most offenders can apply for full parole after serving one-third of their sentence).

In a January 2014 decision, the parole board said he had “limited insight” into his motivations and that his plans for parole appeared “unrealistic.”