A Victoria real estate agent has been charged with making and distributing child pornography.
Scott Garman of The Garman Group is charged with making child pornography by creating written material advocating for and describing sexual activity with persons under the age of 18.
He is also charged with transmitting, distributing, selling, advertising, importing or exporting child pornography. The offences are alleged to have taken place on May 4. The charges were sworn in August.
Warren Mirko, communications manager for the B.C. Financial Services Authority, said Garman’s real estate licence is “currently inoperative.”
Garman’s real estate brokerage returned his licence on Nov. 2, which means he cannot provide real estate services to consumers, said Mirko.
Individuals must be licensed by the authority, and must be engaged by a licensed real estate brokerage to provide real estate services in B.C. If a brokerage decides that it no longer wishes to engage a licensed individual, they return that individual’s licence to the B.C. Financial Services Authority.
“This is referred to as licence surrender and is what has occurred in this case,” said Mirko.
Garman is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 24.
