Winnipeg children’s entertainer charged with child porn sentenced

Daniel Kamenicky was sentenced to five years minus time served Thursday for charges of making and distributing child porn and voyeurism.

The 39-year-old children’s entertainer will spend another 40 months behind bars.

The teacher’s assistant was arrested and charged in 2016.

READ MORE: Winnipeg children’s entertainer charged with making child pornography

Winnipeg police were contacted by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children after discovering several local IP addresses were allegedly being used to upload pornographic photos and videos containing images of children. The centre passed those photos onto Winnipeg Police’s Internet Child Exploitation unit leading to his arrest.

In reading his decision, Manitoba Justice Sid Lerner noted that many of the images Kamenicky took were of kids he worked with at school.

“These images were taken in a calculated and premeditated fashion, exploiting students with whom his care and guidance had been trusted. The accused’s interest in taking pictures of children appears to have taken place over the course of several years,” Lerner said.

“The magnitude of abuse of trust is profound.”

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Kamenicky went by the name “Dan the Magic Man” and in 2015 was named one of Winnipeg’s top entertainers for children’s birthday parties.

“The number and frequency of child pornography-related search terms on the accused’s cellphone suggests an individual obsessed with child pornography,” Lerner read to the court. “As we heard in victim impact statements, the accused’s offending behaviour has shaken to the core the parents of the children victimized by the accused. One said that a sacred trust had been breached.”

Defence lawyer Dan Manning said it is too early to know if they will appeal the sentence.

Upon his release, Kamenicky will be banned from ever attending a school, playground or community centre again.

He will also have a number of internet restrictions as Justice Lerner said Kamenicky has a high risk to re-offend.