Laverne Waskahat re-arrested at west Edmonton hotel, facing new child porn charges

WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers

Just days after being released, a convicted sex offender with a history of possessing, making and publishing child pornography involving toddlers was re-arrested at a west Edmonton hotel, where officers found baby supplies, alleged pornographic materials and a computer.

The Edmonton Police Service issued a warning Tuesday, saying Laverne Waskahat, 47, is a convicted violent sexual offender and EPS had reasonable grounds to believe she is a significant harm to the community.

Police said she stood the risk of committing a sexual offence against a child under the age of 16, and therefore, there was a duty to warn the public.

Waskahat was released from custody on Monday into the Edmonton area. She disappeared and failed to report to her parole officer. Two days later, a warrant for her arrest was issued.

On Wednesday, police said officers responded to a west-end hotel after receiving a tip concerning Waskahat’s whereabouts.

Waskahat was arrested and officers also located a baby crib, diapers, dozens of alleged pornographic drawings and a laptop in the hotel room.

In their warning this week, Edmonton police said Waskahat has a history of possessing, making and publishing child pornography involving male and female infants under three years old.

“Waskahat has been known to offend against the children while in a position of care over the child (i.e. while babysitting) and has also been known to take voyeuristic photos in public of infants,” the warning said.

Police said Waskahat may try to associate with people who have young kids in order to groom them for offending behaviour. She has been known to go by “Lauren Waskahat” online.

She has breached their court orders in the past. Edmonton police issued near-identical warnings about her in 2019 and again in 2020, when she also pleaded guilty to three charges related to child porn.

In August 2019, the court ruled they could not access the internet unsupervised, and could not own a computer, cellphone or device with internet access, or ability to take photos.

On Oct. 17, 2019, police officers spotted Waskahat using a cellphone and arrested her for violating her orders.

A search turned up a second cellphone and a laptop. According to an agreed statement of facts, investigators found child pornography images on all three devices. There were also a number of photos of diapers and diaper fetish search terms in the laptop’s search history.

Waskahat is now facing new charges of making child pornography and possession of child pornography. She remains in custody.

— with files from Sarah Ryan, Global News