CORNWALL – A Cornwall man convicted of possessing child pornography has died before the sentencing phase of his legal proceedings, Cornwall Newswatch has learned.
Randy Crowder, 59, pled guilty in January 2020 to a single count of possession of child pornography.
In a statement of facts during the arraignment, prosecutors said police had found one picture and one video of girls between 7 and 15 years old based on a search of Crowder’s home in June 2019.
Crowder, a retired agent with the Canada Border Services Agency, had no prior criminal record.
His lawyer, Bill Wade, had been in the midst of mounting a constitutional challenge at the time of his death in September 2021.
The case had been delayed due to Wade having “a couple of setbacks” in his personal life, during an appearance Sept. 8, 2021.
Crowder would die roughly two weeks later – Sept. 22, 2021 – at his home.
While the application had being filed, the details of that challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were never divulged in open court. Though Wade said during the Sept. 8 appearance that it was “a very important (constitutional) issue and not to be done in a half-baked manner.”
Court records show the charge was withdrawn on Oct. 14, 2021.
As for the conviction, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General says that remains.
“The guilty plea remains a part of the court record but the charge is no longer before the court as the matter has been withdrawn,” Maher Abdurahman wrote in an email statement to Cornwall Newswatch.