The trial on child pornography charges of former Athabasca youth worker Jason Andrew Keough began Monday in Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton.
Keough, 36, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of making child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography, one count of voyeurism, one count of making voyeuristic material, and one count of sexually touching a youth.
The charges are based on incidents alleged to have occurred between 2005 and 2008, when Keough worked for Alberta Children and Youth Services’ Athabasca office.
He had been previously employed by the Athabasca Native Friendship Centre and Edwin Parr Composite School.
On Monday, Crown prosecutor Diane Hollinshead told Justice Donald Manderscheid that Keough talked to teenage boys about paying them to film themselves performing sexual acts, “asking them if they want to be porn stars.”
That led in some cases to boys filming sexual encounters with underage girlfriends, Hollinshead said.
Athabasca RCMP executed a search warrant on Keough’s home in Athabasca in September, 2008, seizing several video tapes. Manderscheid is expected to decide which tapes can be accepted as evidence.
A 19-year-old man, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, testified that when Keough was his social worker in 2008, he repeatedly asked him if he was gay. He testified that Keough also sexually touched him though his pants during an outing from a youth assessment centre.
Keough’s trial is expected to last all week. Check www.athabascaadvocate.com for further updates.
