A 42-year-old Calgary man has been charged with several counts of voyeurism and publication of voyeuristic recordings in connection with a high-profile Twitter account, Calgary police said Wednesday night.
Police thanked the public for their “overwhelming help” in identifying Jeffrey Robert Williamson, the suspect in the high-profile “CanadaCreep” Twitter account investigation.
The account featured photos of unsuspecting women at CTrain stations, Plus-15s and other places around Calgary.
It was open for about a year, with about 17,000 followers, before it was shut down for being inappropriate.
WATCH: Staff Sergeant Cory Dayley of the Calgary Police Service Cyber/Forensics Unit announces they have laid charges in the “CanadaCreep” investigation.
Police said Wednesday that images of a potential suspect caught in video reflections and shared by concerned social media users were useful in “helping bring the case to a conclusion.”
“They helped us resolve the investigation, yes,” Staff Sgt. Cory Dayley said Wednesday, declining to comment further on the identity of the suspect, other than to say he has no criminal past.
In all, investigators said they have seized computers and other devices, finding terabytes of data with “hundreds of thousands” of images after a search warrant was carried out on a home in the southeast neighbourhood of Prestwick.
“We’ll start working backwards now, looking at the evidence and how each image was obtained in the videos, where they were obtained and the extent the suspect went to obtain them,” Dayley said. “Then we’ll work with the Crown to determine if other charges come with that.”
WATCH: Calgary police working with thousands of pictures in ‘CanadaCreep’
Calgary police opened up an investigation leading to the arrest of Williamson late Tuesday afternoon.
“It could take weeks, if not months, to go through (the data),” Dayley said.
WATCH: ‘It’s disturbing social behaviour’ says CPS on ‘CanadaCreep’
Dayley was asked if those who retweeted or shared the images and videos on social media could also be looking at charges.
“Anybody who does distribute it, based on how it’s done or the totality or intent behind that, depending on how the investigation unfolds, we may look at that.”
WATCH BELOW: Calgary police are on the hunt for a predator who’s been taking sexual photos of innocent women. He goes by the handle Canada Creep and posted the images on social media. It’s people online who first sounded the alarm. Jill Croteau reports.
Williamson is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
Police said anyone who has identified themselves as a victim in any of the images posted online is asked to contact the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.
With files from Global’s Erika Tucker and Phil Heidenreich