Post by ICED " T" on Apr 22, 2010 16:14:23 GMT -5
BARRIE — With a little pot belly, long white hair and a white beard, a man who has played the part as Santa Claus pleaded guilty to possession of thousands of images of child pornography.
Daniel Walter Gyselinck, 59, played the starring role of Santa in Barrie’s Christmas parade for the past two years, waving to hundreds of children from his glittering sleigh in his bright red suit as he handed out treats.
Standing in handcuffs beside his lawyer in a Barrie courtroom Wednesday, he quietly said “guilty” to possession of 90,000 images of child porn as well as over 1000 video clips child porn. He also pleaded guilty to making the images available to the public and to downloading the images and movies from his computer on to personal CDs and DVDs.
Court heard police came to his apartment door with a search warrant last June where they found the material as well as an unusual collection of festive decorations, even though it was the middle of June. A police video tape played in court showed Gyselinck’s apartment shelves cluttered with Christmas trinkets, hundreds of stuffed toys, gingerbread houses, a Christmas tree and a Santa suit.
“When I sit at my computer, I slip into this dark side,” Gyselinck told police. “I don’t know why I do it.”
Court heard he also told police that it was easy to download any type of child porn he wanted off of Limewire.
“Why doesn’t the government stop making it so easily available?” he asked police.
In court, police also played a sampling of the thousands of images and videos they seized. Several show clips of adult men raping a small child. One clip shows a small child playing in a bubble bath when suddenly a quiet, muffled male voice is heard in the background asking the child to stand up in the tub and display her genitals. The unknowing child appears to happily obey, each time saying “cheese” with a happy smile as she posses.
Gyselinck will be sentenced May 21.
Daniel Walter Gyselinck, 59, played the starring role of Santa in Barrie’s Christmas parade for the past two years, waving to hundreds of children from his glittering sleigh in his bright red suit as he handed out treats.
Standing in handcuffs beside his lawyer in a Barrie courtroom Wednesday, he quietly said “guilty” to possession of 90,000 images of child porn as well as over 1000 video clips child porn. He also pleaded guilty to making the images available to the public and to downloading the images and movies from his computer on to personal CDs and DVDs.
Court heard police came to his apartment door with a search warrant last June where they found the material as well as an unusual collection of festive decorations, even though it was the middle of June. A police video tape played in court showed Gyselinck’s apartment shelves cluttered with Christmas trinkets, hundreds of stuffed toys, gingerbread houses, a Christmas tree and a Santa suit.
“When I sit at my computer, I slip into this dark side,” Gyselinck told police. “I don’t know why I do it.”
Court heard he also told police that it was easy to download any type of child porn he wanted off of Limewire.
“Why doesn’t the government stop making it so easily available?” he asked police.
In court, police also played a sampling of the thousands of images and videos they seized. Several show clips of adult men raping a small child. One clip shows a small child playing in a bubble bath when suddenly a quiet, muffled male voice is heard in the background asking the child to stand up in the tub and display her genitals. The unknowing child appears to happily obey, each time saying “cheese” with a happy smile as she posses.
Gyselinck will be sentenced May 21.