Thunder Bay man gets six years in child pornography case after 2023 police search

THUNDER BAY – CRIME NEWS – A Thunder Bay man has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in a child pornography case that police claim was the largest seizure of its kind in the city’s history.

Justice Emily Beaton sentenced Justin John Mach, 41, on April 1, 2026.

Thunder Bay police executed a search warrant at a Lake Street address on Aug. 20, 2023, and reported finding 4,513,813 images and videos on seized devices.

The case matters locally because it highlights the scale of digital child exploitation investigations and the pressure such files can place on police and court resources in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. There are a lot of cases where Thunder Bay Police Service charges people in child pornography cases.

Police said more than 4.5 million files were seized

When Thunder Bay Police Service officers searched a residence at 28 Lake St. as part of a child pornography investigation they seized 14 electronic devices.

Investigators were only able to categorize about 84,000 files because of the scale of the seizure and the resources required.

Mach was arrested on Aug. 11, 2023, and charged with possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography and making child pornography available.

The case has slowly wound its way through the courts.

Court proceedings and sentence

Mach appeared before Justice Emily Beaton on Jan. 23, 2026, and entered guilty pleas. Crown attorney Shelby Ernst sought a six-year penitentiary sentence, while defence lawyer Sherri Abbotsaway argued that five years was sufficient.

Justice Beaton sentenced Mach to six years in prison on April 1, 2026.

The court ordered that he be registered as a sex offender for life.

Mach had previously been sentenced in 2016 to 16 months in jail and three years’ probation in an earlier case.

What the Criminal Code charges mean

The charges in this case correspond to section 163.1 of the Criminal Code. Making material available is covered by subsection 163.1(3) and is an indictable offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of one year.

Possession and accessing offences are covered by subsections 163.1(4) and 163.1(4.1); when prosecuted by indictment, each carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and a mandatory minimum of one year. If prosecuted summarily, those offences carry a maximum of two years less a day and a mandatory minimum of six months.

A sex offender registration order is authorized under section 490.012 of the Criminal Code for designated sexual offences, including section 163.1 offences. The duration of that order can be 10 years, 20 years or life, depending on the offence and the offender’s record. A lifetime order may apply where a person has a previous primary sexual offence conviction or has previously been subject to a sex offender registration obligation.