A former technology manager at Queen's University has been convicted of luring a 13-year-old girl on the Internet and trying to escape custody after he was busted on the charge.
Superior Court Justice Paul Lalonde said Wednesday he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that David Ditchfield was guilty of both counts.
The judge rejected Ditchfield's testimony that he was simply role-playing with an adult woman when he engaged in a four-month orgy of sexually explicit chats and lewd behaviour.
"I find his explanation defies logic and common sense," he said. "It is too easy an answer."
Ditchfield, who sat looking down during most of the lengthy judgment, showed no emotion at the findings. He was embraced by his wife and two other supporters afterward.
The online affair began in October 2004 when Ditchfield logged onto a Yahoo chat room called littlegirlsfordaddy and clicked on the profile of a 13-year-old Toronto girl named Sarah.
Sarah was actually a 40-year-old male detective with the OPP's child pornography unit working out of an office in Downsview.
Using a software program called camtasia, police captured dozens of racy private chats and pictures of Ditchfield behaving lewdly in front of the webcam. Some of the conversations originated at Ditchfield's office at the faculty of education where he kept a picture of the girl's buttocks on his computer.
A retired school inspector with the Ministry of Education, Ditchfield resigned his position at Queen's after his arrest, saying he didn't want to bring "undue focus" on the university.
Police also arranged two telephone conversations with Ditchfield using an undercover female detective with the Toronto police.
The investigation ended January 27, 2005 after authorities learned Ditchfield was leaving on vacation for Costa Rica, a country known for sex tourism and child prostitution.
Moments before police executed a warrant at his rural residence near Lyndhurst, Ditchfield was again involved in a sexually graphic chat with Sarah and caught behaving lewdly on the webcam.
Ditchfield testified that he was only involved in role-playing and that he believed Sarah was actually an adult married woman with children. He said he made that assumption based on his seven years experience accessing adult chatrooms.
While conceding his behaviour may have been inappropriate, he maintained it wasn't unlawful.
But Justice Lalonde said Ditchfield had "no business" assuming he was communicating with an adult, adding by law that he was obligated to make a reasonable effort to ascertain her age. "He didn't have a clue who was out there."
Instead of asking questions during their first online contact, the judge said the accused quickly launched into "dirty talk and a lewd act without batting an eyelash."
Lalonde dismissed as "naive and unbelievable" Ditchfield's trust that Yahoo would allow only persons over 18 to enter adult sites, given his extensive background in computers.
Overall, he described Ditchfield's testimony as "well-rehearsed and delivered with unwavering speed."
A sentencing date will be set early in January. Until then, Ditchfield will remain on bail.
Assistant Crown attorney Kim Moore said she would be seeking a jail sentence for the 58-year-old bureaucrat and educator.
Label: Brockville Recorder & Times.
