Former Courtenay business owner pleads guilty to child luring

A former Courtenay business owner charged with child luring and possession of child pornography pleaded guilty in provincial court in Chilliwack on Friday.

Jason Thomas Graff faces the mandatory minimum of six months jail and, in a joint submission, Crown counsel and Graff’s lawyer are seeking that to be followed by three years probation.

Graff was scheduled to go to trial in the case, with a preliminary inquiry set for Feb. 6 and 7, 2020, but instead he entered the guilty plea to count one, the charge of telecommunicating to lure child under 18.

The 35-year-old was arrested in Courtenay and charged with two counts of possession of child pornography from Dec. 28, 2018 at Qualicum Beach and Cumberland. The child luring charge is dated August 1, 2018 and is from Hope.

Graff listed as the president and CEO of BC Protection Services, a Hope-based security firm that opened a branch in Courtenay in 2018. The Courtenay location has since closed. The company’s website is no longer active, and the phone number listed on the company’s Facebook page is not in service. Photos of Graff in uniform are on a number of posts on the Facebook page, but the last post is from December 2018.

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Crown asked for, and Judge Wendy Young ordered, a pre-sentence report and a psychiatric evaluation in court on Feb. 7. Defence said Graff was also having his own psychological report prepared in advance of sentencing. 

Crown suggested a victim impact statement would also be prepared for sentencing.

Graff’s case was put over to a future date to allow for the reports to be prepared, and his next court appearances is scheduled for Feb. 18 for an application to vary conditions of his bail. Details of those bail conditions, however, are subject to a publication ban.