By Alicia Anderson, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

William Joseph Daniel Hubbard has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in writing, making, and possessing child sexual exploitation material.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Stephen Wojciechowski on Oct. 1 in a Thunder Bay courtroom.

On Sept. 16, 2025, Hubbard pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, luring, and one count of making child pornography. However, he pleaded not guilty to the second count of making child pornography.

During a trial in September 2025, Chris Dunnill, a civilian member of the Thunder Bay Police Service’s cybercrime unit who was a detective-constable at the time of Hubbard’s arrest, testified that six devices, including two phones and four hard drives, were seized upon Hubbard’s arrest.

Five of the six devices seized at the time of Hubbard’s arrest contained a combined total of 267 videos and 313 photos.

In December 2025, Hubbard was found guilty of the second count of making child pornography. 

The Crown asked for a penitentiary sentence of 16 years while the defence asked for five years in custody followed by three years of probation. 

In his decision, the judge said mitigating factors for Hubbard included that he had no prior criminal record and pleaded guilty to three of the four charges.

Hubbard’s family is also said to be supportive of him and he has a history of pursuing education as well as securing regular employment throughout his life.

Aggravating factors identified in the pre-sentence report included that Hubbard appeared to lack an understanding of, or accurate insight into, his behaviour.

The pre-sentence report stated that Hubbard did not accept culpability for the offences, did not provide a rationale for them, presented with numerous cognitive distortions, and demonstrated limited responses related to victim empathy.

The report also stated that the risk of further sexual reoffending remained a significant concern.

Another aggravating factor was the size of his collection of child sexual exploitation material, which included 589 files, of which 267 were videos.

Hubbard served 1,130 days in pre-sentence custody. Applying credit at a rate of 1.5 days for each day in detention, Hubbard received a total credit of 1,695 days.

Wojciechowski applied the pre-sentence custody credit, leaving Hubbard to serve a total custodial sentence of 2,685 days, or 7.35 years.

In addition to the sentence, Hubbard is required to submit a DNA sample, comply with a Sexual Offender Information Registration Act order for a 20-year period, and forfeit the devices seized at the time of his arrest.

Additionally, Hubbard is prohibited for the remainder of his life from attending public parks, swimming areas where children aged 16 and under are expected to be present, daycare centres, school grounds, playgrounds, or public establishments.

Hubbard cannot seek or obtain employment or volunteer positions that involve being in a position of trust or authority over a person under the age of 16.

Hubbard cannot contact anyone under the age of 16 unless under the supervision of a court-approved person, except during a retail or service transaction in a public establishment.

Hubbard may use the internet on a smart television or similar TV service. He may also access the internet at his place of work for work purposes, provided he is not self-employed there.

Any device Hubbard uses to access the internet cannot have peer-to-peer, torrent, or Usenet applications installed. It also cannot have any scrubbing software or any program designed to allow anonymous use of the internet. Hubbard is prohibited from accessing the internet using public Wi-Fi, internet cafés, or public computers.

Source: TBNewsWatch.com