It has been revealed that the man charged with child sex trafficking in Port Alberni has a history of child pornography-related offences, and was deemed to be "at a high risk to re-offend sexually with underage females."Shaun Pater, 45, has been in and out of the legal system for over a decade, and went on to re-offend every time he was released.Court records showed that Pater was initially convicted of sexual interference and sentenced to six months in prison with three years probation. He was also ordered to provide a DNA sample and added to the sex offenders' registry for 20 years. Not long after, in 2014, he was convicted of possession of child pornography and once again sent to jail. In that case, he was caught while driving home from Walmart after printing images of children's genitalia. Some were sent to him by a fellow pedophile he met in jail, and others were from girls he had been sexting with while on probation.He was deemed by the court to be at "high risk to re-offend sexually with underage females."At the time, Pater had been working as a maintenance man at a local residential apartment complex. When the strata council learned of his criminal convictions, he was fired. Numerous residents said they feared for the safety of the women living there, as well as grandchildren who frequently visited the property. Additionally, because he was ordered to stay away from children, he was unable to complete tasks in areas where youngsters may congregate.Pater complained to the BC Human Rights Tribunal, arguing that he had been unjustly let go, but they sided with the council and his termination was upheld.Since then, Pater has been doing odd jobs around town. Upon hearing that he had been charged again, one Port Alberni woman named Lisa took to Facebook claiming that he had painted her property."Last year we hired student works painters to come finish painting/staining our property," Lisa wrote in a post. "This man is who they sent. HOW is he allowed to work in peoples homes? Did student works do a background/criminal record check??"She went on to note that Pater had been "nice" and did "such a good job" that she recommended him to a friend, warning people that, "monsters don't look and act like monsters!!!""How, WITH charges, was this man allowed to be in my home exposed to my children?" Lisa continued, noting that she had been "hyper vigilant with him here and even took [her] kids camping." She pointed out that not all parents would have done the same, and said it served as "a great reminder why criminal record checks should be mandatory for anyone dealing with children."Pater himself has children, including a son who, according to people in a local Facebook group, was bullied when people found out who his dad was. He has made a name for himself in the community, with dozens of people commenting on a post about his most recent charges with "again?" and "not surprised.".Three Port Alberni men charged with child trafficking, sex offences.On January 7, 2025, following a five-year investigation Pater was charged with 15 counts in relation to sexual offences on minors including trafficking of persons under the age of 18 years. Two other men, Terrance Houbregs and Wayne Moore, were each charged with 6 counts involving sexual offences on minors. The men have been ordered not to "have contact or communicate directly or indirectly, or be in the presence of anyone under the age of 16 years," not to "go to any public park or swimming area, community centre, theatre, where persons under the age of 16 years are known to be present," and not to "go to any daycare centre, school or playground."
