Former Chilliwack pastor begins jail term for child porn charges
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CHILLIWACK — John Vermeer, a former pastor in Chilliwack, has officially begun serving a 14-month jail sentence after exhausting all avenues of appeal and ending with the dismissal of his case by the Supreme Court of Canada on January 11, 2024, according to a news release from the RCMP.
The news release Thursday said the investigation into Vermeer’s illicit activities began in 2015, triggered by the detection of suspicious activity on the church network server. This led to the discovery of child pornography on Vermeer’s office computer. When reported to authorities, the discovery initiated an inquiry into the former pastor’s actions.
The B.C. Prosecution Service approved charges in 2018. They included two counts each for Accessing Child Pornography and Possessing Child Pornography. The offenses spanned from 2010 to 2015. A trial in 2021 in B.C. Provincial Court resulted in Vermeer’s conviction on all charges.
Vermeer pursued an appeal, securing his release on bail pending the appeal’s outcome. The B.C. Court of Appeals heard his case, but in May 2023, the appeal was dismissed. That prompted Vermeer to escalate his legal challenge to the highest judicial authority, the Supreme Court of Canada.
