Convicted Saskatoon child porn offender faces new charges

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A Saskatoon man who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2022 for child pornography and luring offences is accused of reoffending while on day parole.

Police confirmed Steven Alexander McEwen was taken back into custody, accused of violating his parole, when he was arrested on Sept 4.

He is charged with one count each of possessing and accessing child porn, and one count of breaching a prohibition order from his previous sentence.

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In 2021, McEwen, now 41, pleaded guilty to child luring, possessing child pornography and making it available to others. Court heard he was arrested in May 2020 after police were alerted about child nudity being shared over social media in December 2019.

Court heard starting in August 2018, McEwen sent six child porn images to an underage girl, as well as a link to a file sharing service that provided access to several videos.

A search warrant was executed and officers discovered McEwen had 5,064 abuse images and 519 videos of children as young as three.

According to the Parole Board of Canada, McEwen was granted day parole in September 2023 and allowed to live in a halfway house for six months. It was extended in March.

In a decision released last month, the board revoked his day parole after unauthorized gaming apps were found on his personal cellphone, which had been approved to access the internet for work purposes only.

The apps were discovered in August during a mandated review of his devices. He was found to be breaching the 10-year prohibition order that followed his release from custody because the apps included chat rooms.

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The court order prohibited him from using a computer to communicate with a child, or access any type of social media network.

McEwen denied using the gaming apps to communicate with others, but admitted using the device to watch adult porn to “relieve the sexual urges” he was having.

The new child porn charges were laid after police seized the cellphone for a forensic review, the decision states.

“It is apparent that you breached imposed conditions and of the expectations of your release. The decisions you made were within your control and that your risk increased to an unmanageable level,” the board concluded.

“That indicates that you have returned to your offence cycle. The outstanding charges are further indication of the seriousness of the breaches, albeit that you have not been convicted at this point.”

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