A man who worked at an Edmonton school has been accused of accessing and possessing child sexual exploitation materials, formerly known as child pornography.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit began investigating two months ago, after being contacted by a non-profile child protection organization that had concerns with an unknown Alberta user sharing child sexual exploitation materials online.
“We received information from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children that somebody had uploaded some media to the social media application Threads, which is a Meta app,” said Cpl. Matthew Pepper with ALERT.
“That led us, through different orders and search warrants and whatnot, to discover that the offender in this case was a janitor.”
The accused was arrested at his home in Edmonton on June 18 with help from the Edmonton Police Service.
ICE forensic technicians are now analyzing computer and electronic devices that were seized from the home.
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At the time of the arrest, the accused worked as a custodian at Louis St. Laurent Catholic Junior/Senior High School. The school on 43 Avenue in south Edmonton is directly next door to Harry Ainlay High School.
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The investigation and charges are related to online offences and Pepper said there is no indication any kids at the schools are affected. However, the nature of the accused’s employment raises the stakes in such investigations.
“It is very concerning,” Pepper said. “As soon as we find out that the person works at a school — whether they’re a teacher, custodian, or anything like that — or of any profession where they have a position of trust or authority, we activate immediately and action.”
Pepper said parents of students at Louis St. Laurent are advised to talk to their kids and report anything concerning.
Crispolo (Cris) Comillas, 47, has been charged with accessing and possessing child sexual exploitation materials. He was released on a number of court-imposed conditions and is scheduled to appear in court on July 6.
ICE is encouraging anyone with information about this case to come forward and contact their local police or submit a tip anonymously via Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-TIPS).
ALERT is a provincial government agency committed to tackling serious and organized crime, staffed by members from law enforcement agencies across Alberta.
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