P.E.I. man sentenced for sharing intimate image with undercover officer posing as a child
Henry Donald Crabbe thought correspondent was only 12 when he sent explicit photo
Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing.
A 24-year-old Scotchfort man has been sentenced to one year in jail and two years probation after earlier pleading guilty to luring and sending a sexually explicit image to a child.
Henry Donald Crabbe believed the person he was corresponding with on a messaging app called Kik was a 12-year-old girl — but it was actually an undercover police officer.
On Wednesday, Judge Nancy Orr sentenced Crabbe to one year in jail for each of the charges, to be served concurrently, and two years probation.
The judge said she hoped the sentence would send a message to others acting inappropriately online: "If you get caught, the consequences are extremely significant."
Crabbe will also have to undergo counselling and he can't have contact with people aged 16 and younger unless it's supervised by an adult who has been assessed and approved by his probation officer.
As well, Crabbe must provide a DNA sample and remain on the National Sexual Offender Registry for 20 years. His use of the internet is also being restricted.
In June 2024, Crabbe was using the messenger app's random chat function to contact people he didn't know. In the incident that led to the charges, he sent an unsolicited photo of his genitals to someone posing as a 12-year-old girl.
That person turned out to be an undercover police officer from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit in the United Kingdom.
That unit sent the digital files to Canada's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre, which contacted the RCMP on P.E.I.
The IP address from which the messages had been sent was eventually connected to a home where Crabbe was staying. Police also matched his profile photo on Kik to an image from his driver's licence.
Court heard that Crabbe was active on the messaging app until two days before his arrest in November.
Crabbe had no previous record. On Wednesday, he told the court he regrets all of his actions.
"I was going on the internet to get some attention," he said. "I want to get help. I want to get my mental health in order."
With files from Stacey Janzer