‘Unusually’ large collection of child sex abuse videos seized in Alberta

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Police have charged a 27-year-old Alberta man after finding a large collection of child sex abuse videos.

The Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) team says it began to investigate after getting a tip from German police involving the accused’s peer-to-peer Internet activities.

The team consists of members of the RCMP and Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge police.

Robert Jeffrey Williams, of Medicine Hat was arrested Tuesday at Calgary International Airport.

He’s charged with possessing, accessing, and making available child pornography.

Staff Sgt. John Guigon told Global News it appeared that these were old videos being re-circulated, rather than created by Williams.

Williams has been released on several conditions and is scheduled to appear in Medicine Hat court on Oct. 14.

Police say a search warrant was executed at a home in Medicine Hat on Sept. 3 and evidence was seized.

A forensic analysis of the computers and electronic devices seized is underway, but investigators say so far they’ve found “an extensive collection of videos depicting extreme child sex abuse.”

“Generally on average we’ll uncover several hundred images in most of our seizures, up to a couple thousand, but we’re already into the hundreds of videos in these seizure,” said Guigon. “That’s likely to grow because we’re only just starting our forensic analysis. It makes it unusual because we generally don’t see that number. …Not indicating he is responsible for creating them, but certainly in possession of them.”

Police don’t believe any of the victims are from Alberta.

With files from Global News reporter Erika Tucker