Man gets 3 decades in prison for string of child sexual-abuse offences that spanned 25 years

Warning: The following story contains graphic details.

A judge has sentenced a man to three decades behind bars for a string of sexual assault and other offences involving children that spanned 25 years.

During a hearing on Thursday, provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine said the "campaign of grooming" and crimes committed by Alan Oloya Samson were so egregious that he needed to be separated from society for a lengthy period of time.

"These offences are staggering," Devine said. "It is clear that these children were subjected to hundreds if not thousands of individual sexual violations over several years during their childhood."

Samson, 48, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, which was sought by Crown attorneys. He previously pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual interference involving nine different children, as well as six counts of making child pornography involving six of those same kids.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and the theft of over 100 school photos of boys from his employer, Lifetouch, which is a large company that supplies school pictures across the country.

Samson, who had no prior criminal record, grew up as a child to immigrant parents whom he lived with his entire adult life up to the time when he was arrested on Sept. 11, 2020. Most of the crimes happened there.

The abuse involved children of friends, family and community members who entrusted Samson to care for them at various points between 1995 and 2020, court heard. The children,ranging in age from four to 13 at the times of the offences, called him uncle, Devine said. The abuse of each child spanned between four and 7½ years.

'Enormity' of offences clear in videos: judge

The victims didn't always realize they were being abused, Devine said. Court heard Samson used video games, toys and trips to see movies and eat at restaurants as ways of manipulating the children.

"The children, most of whom are adults now, are devastated," she said. "The shocking enormity of these offences cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the videos of the children," Devine said.

Samson destroyed some videos, which were made using hidden cameras, but police obtained four others that showed him sexually assaulting children. When they were played in court, Samson left the room. No survivors or their family members were present when the videos were played, Devine said.

The seriousness of the offences cannot be exaggerated. The offender's behaviour was incessant, repeated and obsessive. It is horrifying in its banality.- Judge Cynthia Devine

Referring to previous decisions in similar cases, Devine said the personal autonomy of the children was taken from them. She said the resulting impacts on survivors' lives were wide-ranging.

Devine called the six victims and one mother who read victim impact statements "brave," including one victim who lives with flashbacks, feelings of disgust and a sense of a loss of their childhood. 

"I thought whether it would happen to me or not that day was determined by chance. In reality, I see now that the offender thoughtfully created a world where sex was normalized, an environment where that type of sexual exposure was normal for a child to see, view, ask and try those things," said another victim.

Yet another victim, now an adult, talked about being withdrawn as a kid over a fear his peers could sense he was being abused. That affected his sexual identity and as he aged he turned to drugs to escape "the awake nightmare," court heard. He now lives with schizophrenia, insomnia, anxiety attacks and other mental health conditions.

A mother also told court her trust in others was destroyed and she incurred serious financial, personal, emotional and other costs helping her kids recover and cope.

'Horrifying in its banality'

At the outset of the proceedings, Samson described having a happy childhood, though he mentioned having been sexually abused himself at the age of six by an older relative during a family trip. Devine said Samson shared this with some of his victims as part of his grooming process.

The gravity and degree of responsibility Samson bears remains high, as does the likelihood that he would reoffend, Devine said.

"The seriousness of the offences cannot be exaggerated," Devine said. "The offender's behaviour was incessant, repeated and obsessive. It is horrifying in its banality."

In making her decison, the judge also referred to a "watershed" 2020 Supreme Court of Canada decision that suggested sentence lengths should increase in child sex abuse crimes due to a growing awareness of the harm they cause and in light of a rise in reported cases.