A Fergus man, arrested as part of a province-wide child sexual exploitation investigation last fall, has been sentenced to over five years behind bars.
Wilfred Thyssen, 67, was given his jail sentence in a Toronto court earlier this month.
In December, he pleaded guilty to two counts of arranging to commit a sexual offence against a child and one count of failing to comply with a release order.
Two of the three charges – including the breaching of a release order – stems from his arrest last September for incidents that month in Centre Wellington.
That arrest was part of Project Limestone, where 10 people across the province were brought into custody.
"Investigators utilized undercover techniques to access online chat rooms and social media applications designed for children in order to identify, locate and arrest persons looking to sexually exploit children," the OPP said in a media release last November, when announcing results of the four-day operation.
The third charge he pleaded guilty to goes back to an original set of charges laid against him over three years ago.
According to court documents, Thyssen was first tagged with seven charges in March 2021 in Toronto. A number of the charges related to child pornography and communicating with someone under 16 to commit an offence.
He was later released under strict conditions as his case moved through the court system.
After the guilty plea and sentencing this month, the Crown withdrew the other seven charges against Thyssen.
Those charges were two counts of sexual interference, and one count each of possessing child pornography, accessing child pornography, distributing child pornography, communicating with someone under the age of 16 to commit an offence, and arranging to commit a sexual offence against a child.
Thyssen was handed a combined 62 month prison sentence – five years, two months – but is being credited with 10 months already served in custody.
He will also be placed on the national sex offender registry for 20 years and submit a sample of his DNA.
Thyssen is also facing a 10-year prohibition under Section 161 of the Criminal Code, which covers things like his appearance around places where children may be – such as playgrounds, schools and swimming pools – and accessing the Internet.
