A 45-year-old former Kingston man, who was caught last year by city police with a collection of child pornography that he admits ran to thousands of images, has been sentenced to 15 months in jail and three years of probation.

Clayton J. Hyland, who had never been in trouble with the law before, was also ordered included in the Sex Offender Information Registry for 10 years and he is forbidden for five years from being in parks, swimming areas, playgrounds and other places where children under 14 could reasonably be expected to be present.

Additionally, he's barred from communicating with children on the internet via computer.

Initially, Justice Judith Beaman considered making an order that would have denied Hyland the option of having a home computer, but his lawyer, Dawn Quelch, was able to convince the judge that such a proscription would unduly handicap her client, both in any future employment and in his personal life, preventing him from engaging in ordinary practices such as online banking and bill paying.

Consequently, Beaman instead ordered that Hyland must assist police and probation services in monitoring his compliance by allowing them to look through any computer to which he has access, at any time and without advance warning. He's required, by order of the judge, to provide those agencies with his computer passwords.

Beaman declined, however, to make an order requested by assistant Crown attorney Kim Vanderlee forbidding him from being alone with children.

Quelch successfully argued that it was unnecessary since there's no indication Hyland has ever touched a child and because he'll be "under the watch-f ul stare of his community," when he gets out of jail.

Vanderlee told the judge that Kingston Police discovered Hyland's activities while conducting an online investigation into child pornography between March and June of last year.

In March, she said, police investigators obtained records for Hyland's IP address, which showed that between June 2008 and March 2010 he'd received 410 "unique files," of which 145 were suspect.

In April, after they zeroed in on his computer activity, the prosecutor said Hyland received 582 unique files over a period of nine days, and it was observed that child pornography was indicated by the titles of more than 180 of those transmissions.

Consequently, she told the judge, a search warrant was obtained for Hyland's Shaw Street home, which was executed last June.

Vanderlee said Hyland admitted to the officers who seized his computer equipment that he had downloaded child pornograp hy images, but "he said he deleted them right away."

Seven months later, however, she told the judge that investigators working on analyzing the contents of Hyland's computer had found more than 600 child pornography videos and still had more than 4,000 videos to go through.

Hyland subsequently admitted, according to Vanderlee, that there were thousands of child pornography images on his computer.

She also told the judge that the videos from his collection that had been viewed had "very disturbing content," made up of images of toddlers and girls between eight and 10 years old "being vaginally and anally penetrated."

Quelch conceded on behalf of her client that his child pornog-raphy collection was extensive and, in answer to a direct question from Beaman, confirmed that he was abandoning his initial claim to have downloaded the images inadvertently.

She urged Beaman to bear in mind that her client was not charged with making child pornography or disseminating it and that there was nothing to suggest he's ever done anything more than look at what's readily available over the Internet.

She characterized Hyland as "an avid but passive consumer of (child) pornography."

Quelch disclosed to Beaman that her client lost his job after he was charged, but since then has been dedicating himself, six days a week, to the construction of a church in Perth. He also sought assistance from his family doctor in getting treatment for his problem, according to his lawyer, and learned that the waiting list for outpatient treatment is "incredibly long."

Quelch told the judge that her client was himself abused as a child and that he regrets not seeking help sooner.

She tendered multiple letters of support to the judge and observed that, considering the social stigma attached to her client's crime, "he has a surprising amount of support in the community."

In seeking something closer to the mandatory minimum jail sentence of 45 days for her client, Quelch argued that "this is not a lifelong activity for Mr. Hyland." She said his collecting only went back to 2008 -- although he later suggested otherwise to the judge.

"I'm sorry for what I brought on this community and my family," Hyland said when he was invited by Beaman to address her. "Despite the fact I'm going to jail, I'm freer now than I've ever been in years. I'm happier than I've ever been in years.

"I've carried the burden of pornography since I was very young," Hyland told the judge. "It cost me my education, my marriage, my son."

Since his arrest, "I've submitted myself to God," Hyland said, "and for that I am eternally grateful to (Kingston Police Detective) Stephanie Morgan for initiating this change in my life."

Beaman, after hearing him out, told Hyland that she believed his apology was heartfelt but "this is a pernicious offence."

"Every time you download an image, some child out there has been harmed to create that image."

The judge also observed that children exploited to supply the traffick in pornography are most frequently the victims of betrayal by people they trust and who are supposed to protect them.

"This will have a lifelong impact on these children," she said, adding "as it has had an impact on your life."