Supreme Court of Canada denies former B.C. pastor’s appeal of child porn conviction

A former B.C. pastor is now serving his jail sentence after the Supreme Court of Canada denied his appeal.

Johannes “John” Vermeer, a former pastor who ministered at the Main Street Church in Chilliwack, was found guilty of two counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of accessing child pornography in 2021. A bio on the church’s website, at the time, said Vermeer was a founding member of the church and had served as executive pastor since 2009.

Three years later, Vermeer has begun serving his 14-month sentence.

Police said the investigation initially began in 2015, when “suspicious activity” was detected on the church network server, which led to the discovery of child pornography on Vermeer’s office computer.

After a lengthy investigation, Vermeer’s charges were approved in 2018, and he was convicted on all charges in 2021. He appealed the conviction to the BC Court of Appeals and was released on bail pending the results of that appeal.

The BC Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal in May 2023. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. On Jan. 11, the SCC dismissed the appeal.

“This was a lengthy investigation completed meticulously by the Chilliwack RCMP Serious Crimes Unit and General Investigation Support Team,” Cpl. Carmen Kiener said. “This recent court decision highlights the hard work our officers do in an area of policing that is not often discussed due to its sensitive content.”

Vermeer is also facing 18 months probation upon his release from custody and will be placed on the sex offender registry for 10 years.

— With files from Simon Little