A former Fergus elementary school teacher who pleaded guilty of possessing child pornography will spend the next 90 days behind bars.
Darwin Harrison was sentenced in Guelph’s Ontario court of Justice Tuesday morning.
Harrison, 40, sat quietly beside his lawyer for the 20 minute hearing.
The only time he spoke was to express his remorse for the crime.
“I’m deeply ashamed and embarrassed,” Harrison told the court. “It was a terrible mistake, the worst one I ever made. It’s had a devastating impact on my life.”
He was listed as a long-term occasional teacher at J.D. Hogarth Public School when he was arrested in April 2023. It came after a two-month investigation by police, which included a search of a Guelph apartment.
He pleaded guilty in December, a day before his matter was scheduled to go to trial.
Harrison plans to exit the teaching profession and seek a trade once he is released from custody, his lawyer told the court.
When he gets out, Harrison will be on probation for 18 months, and will be on the sex offender registry for 10 years. A DNA order was imposed.
He is also under strict conditions, including not attending places where someone under the age of 16 could reasonably be, including schools and swimming pools.
Harrison will also have to undergo sexology counselling, and his MacBook seized by police has been forfeited.
“Collateral consequences and damage to Mr. Harrison, I can recognize,” said Justice Matt Stanley.
“But ultimately within society, the damage caused to individuals, the victims of these types of offences is not minimal, it’s not insignificant and it’s ongoing. For some young person, they spend the rest of their life with that image being out there forever.”
