HUNTER: U.S. child porn fiend caged 30 years. What will Canadian get?

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Here was the suspected deal: Tennessee pervert Patrick D. Swanson would send AI-generated child pornography to his digital buddy in Canada.

Cops say his alleged Canuck confrere would then allegedly send him the real filth in return. His Ottawa pal is a man named John Norman Gordon, 52.

Gordon has been hammered with possession of child sexual abuse material. At the time of his 2025 arrest, cops said: “Investigators are concerned that there may be other victims due to Gordon’s involvement in the community.”

Traded AI child porn for the real thing

Last week, Swanson, 30, was hammered with 30 years in prison. Prosecutors said the sicko used artificial intelligence to impose children’s faces on sexually explicit images and videos. Police say Swanson — a former cop — would trade AI filth “for real child sexual abuse material, according to Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean.

Cops in Ottawa discovered the perverse bi-national exchanges after arresting Gordon in October 2025. Our guys tipped off investigators in the U.S. in Portland, Tenn., the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

Voila! Swanson is in cuffs and caged for decades.

None of the charges have been proven against Gordon and his matters are still before the court. However, if convicted, it is almost certain he can expect a tap on the wrist. That’s how we roll.

Canada and its courts simply do not take sex crimes against children seriously. Never mind that punishment nonsense! Let’s focus on the kindly pedo.

Is rehabilitation ever likely to occur?

My friend, noted Toronto criminal lawyer Monte MacGregor, told me in 2025 the whole sentencing regimen for child sex crimes, including child sexual abuse material, needs looking at.

“I’m not a psychiatrist, but in the legal field, you have to ask whether rehabilitation is ever likely to occur (among pedophiles),” MacGregor said.

“These people have their wires completely disconnected, and there isn’t any amount of psychotherapy or medicine that can be administered to rewire their cognitive deficiencies. They are eternally damaged and horrifically dangerous.”

But Canada and its courts bend over backwards for these monsters.

Now, with AI entering this sordid scenario, investigators will be drowning in a tsunami of filth. One detective told me that “the AI stuff? It’s going to be a total nightmare.”

Former FBI agent Scott Augenbaum, who once ran the Nashville office’s cyber task force, told FOX 17 that AI is accelerating a problem investigators have faced for years.

AI-generated pornography a new threat to children

“The use of artificial intelligence is increasing the speed that these cyber criminals are able to create these images,” Augenbaum said. “I hate to say it, we’re going to be seeing a much larger wave of this.”

Adding to the grief is the international nature of the crime, with the sickos hiding behind bogus identities. And they often operate out of developing countries, beyond the reach of Western cops.

“It’s so hard to catch the bad guys,” Augenbaum said. “And I know a lot of effort went into a case like this.”

No judge to rescue the demented damsel

Swanson is toast. Thirty years. No probation. No parole. No early release. Thirty years. In Canada, a big old cuddly judge would have ridden to the rescue to save the demented damsel. Alas, it was Swanson’s lousy luck he was pinched in the U.S.

Apparently, things like child pornography are taken seriously there.

Anyone with information on Gordon is asked to contact the Ottawa Police Service Internet Child Exploitation Unit at 613-2361222, extension 5660. Tips can be sent electronically to ICE@ottawapolice.ca.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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