It has
been a disturbing day in court as Crown Prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock
presented the facts of 46 child sex abuse charges again former Saint John common
councillor Donnie Snook.
More
than 14, 400 unique child sexual abuse images were found in Snook's
possession along with more than 600 child porn vidoes--and only some
victims have been identified.
Former Friend Darrell Bastarache tells Tide News he expected to see more visible emotion from Snook as the
court heard the evidence, stating that those in the gallery seem to be
in more pain than Snook.
The
court heard Snook bribed his victims with money, alcohol and trips--and
claimed while he would stop sexual activity if his victims complained,
some of them seemed to "enjoy" the abuse. Further, Snook admitted to
having "groomed" at least one child over a period of 7 years from ages
9-14 to eventually take part in the abuse of other children. Many of the
incidents are believed to have occurred when Snook's roommate was also
at home, and the former church leader can be heard in the videos
"shushing" the victims.
The
sexual abuse images were found on a range of electronic media including a
laptop, thumb drive and SD card. Some of the abuse videos were filmed
with an iPad provided to Snook by the City of Saint John.