A 19-year-old Sherwood Park man has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography and distributing child pornography after an 11-month investigation.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit executed a search warrant at a home in Sherwood Park on July 13 with the help of Strathcona County RCMP.
Several electronic devices were seized and a preliminary search of those devices found “child exploitation matter,” ALERT said in a news release Thursday. The devices were sent to a forensic team for a more thorough examination.
Edward Vukovic was arrested.
ALERT said the accused had been employed as a day camp counsellor at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre in Strathcona County for the past two years.
“Although he was in a position of authority, ICE currently has no evidence to suggest any offences took place against children who attended the camps,” ALERT said.
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In a statement, the county said the accused’s last day of work was July 12, 2017.
“Strathcona County has not received any information from ALERT or any other source to suggest any offences took place against children who attended the camps.
“Strathcona County takes the safety and care of all its guests seriously. All Strathcona County leaders working with children or vulnerable populations must meet the highest industry standards for recruitment. All prospective candidates are required to provide both criminal records and vulnerable sector checks and their references are checked.”
The investigation started in August 2016, when ICE was contacted by the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
Vukovic was released on bail with a number of conditions, including:
- Not possessing a computer or telecommunication device capable of accessing the internet
- Not being in a public place or in a private home with anyone under the age of 18 without adult supervision
- Not working or volunteering anywhere children under 16 may be present.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact local police or www.cybertip.ca.