A 54-year-old Toronto criminal lawyer is facing child pornography charges following a four-year police investigation.
Toronto police said their probe began on Oct. 10, 2013, after they were advised that the accused possessed and accessed child sexual abuse material on computer devices in his home in the Sheppard Avenue East and Yonge Street area.
Police said they attempted to secure the evidence on Nov. 1, 2013, but were unable to do so as they believed some of the material on the devices was subject to attorney-client privilege.
“In this case, due to the accused profession, there was believed to be solicitor/client privilege information on these devices,” Det. Sgt. Paul Krawczyk told Global News.
“So therefore there’s a whole process, the Supreme Court has laid it out in previous cases, a process we must follow. In this case, it took a long time to get to this point.”
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Investigators said the material had to be independently reviewed, as required by law, before they were released.
“Because there’s privilege information on this devices, a referee must be appointed, an independent person involved in the process,” Krawczyk said.
“We don’t analyze the devices, an independent party agreed to by all those involved, actually does the analysis of the devices.”
Police said Jamuar Sharat Vijaya of Toronto was arrested on Oct. 19 and charged with one count each of possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.
According to the Law Society of Upper Canada, the suspect operated a private practice in North York near Lawrence Avenue and Don Mills Road.
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A Facebook page with the suspect’s name and image indicates he studied at the University of Windsor.
A description on the website says he is an “experienced criminal trial lawyer in the GTA” and lives with his wife and children in Toronto.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-8500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
–With a file from Mark Carcasole