Stony Plain man who drives school bus charged with child pornography offences

A man from west of Edmonton who works as a subcontracted school bus driver for the Parkland School Division is facing several child pornography charges.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams said Jared Corbett, 34, was arrested by its internet child exploitation (ICE) unit on Feb. 7 with the help of Parkland County RCMP.

The man from Stony Plain has been charged with possession of, distribution of and accessing child pornography.

ALERT said he worked as a school bus driver in the Parkland County area but did not say for which busing company or school division.

ICE began investigating in October 2023 after receiving information about an unknown suspect sharing large quantities of sexual exploitation content involving children over the internet.

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“While the investigation and charges are related to online offences, the nature of Corbett’s employment placed him in a position of trust and authority,” a news release Tuesday said.

The Parkland School Division would not comment on the situation, citing the court proceedings underway, but released a statement late Tuesday afternoon.

The division said it’s aware of the allegations and Corbett has not been working since his arrest on Feb. 7, adding bus drivers are not directly employed by the division as they are subcontractors.

“The driver was removed from the route immediately and had been suspended indefinitely by the bus contractor as soon as the contractor and PSD were made aware of the situation in early February,” the school division said in its statement.

Police seized computers and electronic devices from Corbett’s home in Stony Plain, which ALERT said investigators are performing forensic analysis upon.

Corbett was released from custody on a number of court-imposed conditions, and is next set to appear in court on March 27 in Stony Plain.

ICE is encouraging anyone with information about the case to contact either their local police or Crime Stoppers anonymously (1-800-222-TIPS).

ALERT is an Alberta government agency made up of officers from police forces across the province and investigates serious and organized crime.