Canadian loses appeal on PH child sex conviction

VERNON, B.C. –A local man convicted of participating in sexually explicit online chats with teenage girls in the Philippines has lost his appeal.

Wayne Douglas Brown was convicted on two counts of child luring, one count of possession of child pornography, one count of arranging to have illicit sexual activity with a minor and one count of counseling a person to perform illegal sexual activities.

Brown, 67, is married to a 22-year-old Filipino and spent half a year in the Philippines. He was planning on traveling to that country soon for the purpose of sexually contacting a child, his trial revealed, according to a report by The Daily Courier.

In his appeal, Brown challenged the validity of the search warrant used to seize his personal devices and the admission of evidence under the Charter of Rights. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled unanimously this month the search warrant was properly issued and evidence properly admitted in his trial.

Court learned Brown engaged in explicit conversations and photo exchanges with teenage Philippine girls. A large collection of photos and chat logs were discovered.

“The universal theme in all the chats was that Wayne Brown offered to send money to poor Filipina teenagers or their caregivers or in exchange for the girls providing naked photos or engaging in sex acts. Many of these victims expressed that they needed the money for food, school registration, school uniforms or medicine,” Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett wrote for the court.