Ex-Silicon Knights dev sentenced in child pornography case, charged with sexual assault



Kenneth McCulloch, the former Silicon Knights director and Precursor Games founder who was arrested last year on child pornography charges, was sentenced this week in an Ontario Court of Justice. According to a report published by The Welland Tribune, Judge Joseph Nadel sentenced McCulloch to time served — 12 months — after the former game developer pleaded guilty to a charge of making child pornography available.

McCulloch had been in jail since his arrest in June 2013. While incarcerated, Niagara Regional Police reportedly hit McCulloch with new charges: sexual assault, forcible confinement and sexual interference. McCulloch is still in police custody, and will return to court next month to face those charges.

According to the report, McCulloch had "videos and images of young pre-pubescent boys engaged in sexual activity with adult women" on his computer. His name will be on a sex offender registry list for the next 20 years and he's barred from having contact with anyone under 16 years old.

McCulloch, 43, of St. Catharines, Ont., was arrested and charged last year with one count each of possession of child pornography, making child pornography available and accessing child pornography. At the time, he was employed at Precursor Games, serving as "Lore Keeper, World Builder, Dream Merchant" for the independent studio. Before that, he was a 20-year veteran of Too Human and Eternal Darkness developer Silicon Knights.

When news of McCulloch's arrest broke, Precursor Games distanced itself from the accused developer. "Having just learned of these disturbing charges today and based on the serious nature of them, Ken McCulloch is no longer affiliated in any way with Precursor Games," the studio's CEO, Paul Caporicci, said.

Precursor Games tried unsuccessfully to crowdfund development of Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual successor to GameCube game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, in 2013. Shadow of the Eternals was put on hold last September.