Saskatoon teacher charged with child porn released on $2,000 bail

A Saskatoon high school teacher facing more than half a dozen charges including child porn is out on bail.

After a lengthy bail hearing on Friday, Rhett Lundgren, 39, was free to walk on very strict conditions.

READ MORE: More child pornography charges for Saskatoon teacher Rhett Lundgren

The Walter Murray teacher who has been suspended from teaching faces a total of eight charges but what went into the decision to release him and why – cannot be reported to the public.

“The criminal code says none of the details of the what the Crown says happened or none of the submissions that are made by either Crown or defence should be published today to preserve the right to a fair trial for the accused down the road,” Crown prosecutor Evan Thompson said.

On Dec. 8, 2016, Lundgren was arrested and charged by the Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) with child porn and child sexual offences.

Charges included:

• One count of attempting to access child pornography; and
• Two counts of arranging to commit a sexual offence against a child.

At the time when the charges were laid, Sgt. Scott Lambie with the ICE unit confirmed that the alleged target was a child eight to ten years old. 

“The ICE investigations are thorough, they’re professional and I think that’s reflected in what the courts have had to say in terms of the results that we’ve seen in court over the past number of years,” Thompson said.

READ MORE: New details emerge in child pornography charges against Rhett Lundgren

On Jan. 17, Lundgren was re-arrested by police and additional charges laid.

Charges included:

• Possession of child pornography;
• Two counts of breaching conditions; and
• Sexual exploitation and luring.

This after an alleged victim came forward to Red Deer RCMP regarding an incident in 2009. A woman who says she was a student at the school Lundgren taught at in Red Deer, Alta., where she was 17 years old at the time.

Lundgren looked up at the ceiling and wiped tears from his eyes when the judge delivered his bail hearing decision. He has been released on $2,000 bail and a dozen or so conditions.

“The main conditions deal with things with electronic conditions, access to the internet because those are related to the offences that are before the court,” the Crown said.

“There are conditions in terms of not possessing or consuming drugs, no contact with a persons under the age of 16 years except in certain conditions.”

Other conditions include living with his father, a curfew and a third-party must be present at all times when Lundgren sees his daughter.

He is to appear before a Red Deer court on Feb. 8 to address the charges stemming out of Alberta. Lundgren is to not have any contact with the alleged victim in that case and his next court appearance in Saskatoon has been set over to March 13.