A 20-year-old man is facing a slew of charges after a multi-force child exploitation investigation.
In March 2017, a Lethbridge teenager told a school resource officer with the Lethbridge police that a man had hacked her social media, “accessing private photos to sextort her.”
ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit then got involved in the investigation and was able to track the alleged hacker’s location and identify him.
Investigators say the victim and accused did not know each other.
As a result of a search of the suspect’s home, investigators seized a number of electronic devices as well as illicit drugs including fentanyl and oxycodone, weapons and what police call “proceeds of crime.” The Bloor Tribe Police’s Crime Reduction Unit also joined the investigation to assist ICE with the drugs found.
Skylar Pantherbone was arrested on Aug. 17 at his Blood Tribe First Nation home and faces the following charges:
- Child luring
- Extortion
- Accessing child pornography
- Possessing child pornography
- Distributing child pornography
- Three counts of breach of recognizance
- Possession of proceeds of crime
- Possession of weapon dangerous to the public
- Drug trafficking
- Possession for the purpose of trafficking
- Obstructing a peace officer
ALERT said the breach charge relates to a 2016 ICE investigation where Pantherbone was arrested on similar offences.