A United Nations employee was caught with child pörnography as he entered the country last week at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Jose Antonio Ortega Osona, 40, a Spanish citizen who lives in New York, pleaded guilty Friday in Dartmouth provincial court to a Criminal Code charge of possessing child pörnography and a Customs Act charge of smuggling prohibited goods.Associate Chief Judge Brian Gibson gave Mr. Ortega Osona double credit for the nine days he spent on remand and sentenced him to an additional 72 days at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside.
Customs officers searched Mr. Ortega Osona's personal belongings after he arrived at the airport on a flight from New York on April 9. Portable memory devices found in his backpack contained more than 800 images of hard-cöre child pörnography, some involving a girl who appeared to be about five years old.
Mr. Ortega Osona expects to lose his job as a demographer with the UN's fertility division because of the convictions, defence lawyer Geoff Newton said. "Any jail sentence he gets pales in comparison to the effects this will have on his life," Mr. Newton said.
| C'mon, he's a UN diplomat, he'll pro'ly receive a commendation and a request to share ... |