Winnipeg man arrested for sharing child pornography in online video chat room

WINNIPEG — Police have arrested a Winnipeg man for sharing and possessing child pornography with minors he met in an online video chat room.

READ MORE: 2 arrested in connection to child sexual abuse images, assault in Winnipeg

Winnipeg police said the man was communicating with young children under the age of 14 on a video chat website where users get randomly connected to each other.

“You have your two web cameras, one of the suspect and one of the child, and you can chat between the two,” said Cst. Jay Murray. “Pornographic images were shared with the child and he would often record video of these chats and play those back to other people too.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You have your two web cameras, one of the suspect and one of the child, and you can chat between the two," said Cst. Jay Murray. "Pornographic images were shared with the child and he would often record video of these chats and play those back to other people too."

The Winnipeg police internet child exploitation unit began investigating in June 2016 after the website the suspect used reported the incident to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. Police said they do not believe the child victim is a Winnipegger.

Investigators searched the Winnipeg man’s home on the 100 block of Roslyn Road in March and seized a number of electronic devices.

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“The amount of information we get off these devices is very massive and it takes a lot of time to go through,” said Cst. Murray. “Our investigators don’t want to miss anything critical. That could mean the difference between saving someone.”

READ MORE: Winnipeg man charged in live stream sexual assault of 6-year-old

Julio Nunfio, 42, was arrested in March and charged with possession of child pornography and make available child pornography.

“We do live in a digital age now. Everyone communicates digitally, and that’s the reality of things. So as we go forward, you may see more investigations like this,” said Cst. Murray.

After investigators were able to spend time combing the electronic evidence, Nunfio was rearrested on April 20 and more charges were laid against him including: commission of an indecent act, invitation to sexual touching, luring a person under 14 through telecommunication and others.

All of the charges are connected to the man’s use of the internet chat room. The rooms are becoming popular places for child predators.

“It’s connecting like minded individuals who are sharing tactics and techniques,” said Signy Arnason from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. “When you have these devices you can store tens of thousands of images and it’s quite challenging for police to get through.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's connecting like minded individuals who are sharing tactics and techniques," said Signy Arnason from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. "When you have these devices you can store tens of thousands of images and it's quite challenging for police to get through."

The centre’s national website Cypertip.ca receives about 4,000 tips per month from across the country and an overwhelming majority involve similar cases.

“95 per cent of that would deal with children being sexually exploited on the internet and with child sex abuse imagery,” Arnason said.