Sentencing is underway for a former Trail, B.C., minor hockey player who placed a hidden camera in a girls’ changing room at a West Kootenay arena two years ago.
Garrit Charlie Ciardullo, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of secretly observing or recording for a sexual purpose in May. A second child pornography charge is expected to be stayed.
Ciardullo, a former member of the Greater Trail Minor Hockey Association, was employed at the Fruitvale arena when he hid the device in a girls’ change room at Fruitvale’s Beaver Valley Arena in November 2022.
The court has heard that the group of 10- to 12-year-old hockey players noticed a cell phone concealed in a crack in the changing room’s ceiling.
On Wednesday, a Rossland courtroom heard victim impact statements from some of the players and their families — none of whom can be identified because the girls are minors.
“The safety of that space is something I thought no one could take away from me or my teammates, but you have managed to do that,” said one of the statements.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Looking back now almost two years ago it still brings back those awful feelings that I felt,” added another. “Some of us breaking down in tears because we were so scared and worrying about the what-ifs,” the court heard.
The court heard Wednesday that Ciardullo was depressed and addicted to pornography and that he knew what he did was wrong and disgusting.
His defence said Ciardullo was not disputing making the recording, but that his client didn’t know minors would be in the room. Crown, however, said that Ciardullo worked at the arena, had access to the schedule, and should have known who would be using the space.
It also heard that a doctor who conducted a psychiatric assessment could not diagnose pedophilia. Ciardullo was also deemed a low risk to re-offend.
Outside the court, one of the girls’ fathers said he was disappointed with the proceedings.
“An apology letter was read today, it didn’t seem very genuine, and it was very generic in nature,” he said.
“I definitely made an attempt to look him in the eyes as I was stepping down from the stand and he didn’t even have the decency to look up. so for that reason, I didn’t really identify any sort of remorse that he expressed at all.”
Ciardullo himself declined to comment as he left the courthouse.
The Crown is seeking a six-month jail term, while Ciardullo’s lawyers want a conditional discharge, which would come with no criminal record.
A date to continue the sentencing hearing has not yet been set.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
