Kenneth Klassen tries to hide his face as he arrives at B.C. Supreme Court for the second day of a sentencing hearing related to child-sex tourism in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday July 23, 2010. A 59-year-old Canadian sex tourist who admitted to having sex with girls ranging in age from eight to 14 pleaded guilty to 15 counts involving girls in Cambodia and Colombia in May after a failed constitutional challenge to Canada's child-sex tourism law.DARRYL DYCK
The lawyer for a B.C. man who admitted to having sex with young girls while travelling overseas says his client was simply a "customer" of willing participants.
Lawyer Ian Donaldson says Kenneth Klassen is indeed guilty of the 14 counts of having sex with underage girls and one count of importing child pornography that he pled guilty to, but says his punishment shouldn't exceed his crime.
Mr. Donaldson told a judge the 59-year-old Burnaby, B.C., man engaged in a "commercial transaction" when he had sex with girls the Crown says were as young as eight in Cambodia and Colombia.
A prosecutor in the case has called for at least 12 years in prison.
Mr. Klassen was arrested in 2004 after he was caught trying to ship homemade DVDs back to Canada with images showing him having sex with prepubescent girls.
The father of three pleaded guilty to the 15 charges in May after a failed constitutional challenge to Canada's child-sex tourism law.