2 Alberta fathers facing sex offences involving young daughters: ALERT

Two Alberta girls under the age of four have been saved from sexual exploitation after two separate investigations, police said on Tuesday.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams‘ (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit said the girls were allegedly victimized by their fathers.

Police said the two cases are unrelated and were launched after information was received by ALERT from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about social media users possessing child pornography.

On July 19, search warrants were executed in both Edmonton and Sylvan Lake.

“These arrests have stopped the abuse, but sadly the recovery process for these young girls will be long and difficult,” ICE Insp. Dave Brink said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "These arrests have stopped the abuse, but sadly the recovery process for these young girls will be long and difficult," ICE Insp. Dave Brink said.

“Thankfully, we have excellent partners that provide enhanced victim support resources.”

The girls are both receiving support from a variety of services, including the Zebra Child Protection Centre in Edmonton and the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre.

READ MORE: Alberta father charged with sexually assaulting 3 daughters, selling 1 for sex

Acting Staff Sgt. Brian Cross provided more details about the Edmonton-area suspect on Tuesday afternoon. He said a video depicting child pornography was uploaded to YouTube on April 15. It was reported by YouTube to the National Center and then through the federal government, ICE was contacted.

“The mandatory reporting in the United States for service providers is paramount to how we do our work,” Cross said. “They’ll field reports that are made by other users for abuse as well as things that they detect on their own and report it to agencies in difference jurisdictions. This is important because it’s the starting point for the majority of our investigations.

“YouTube, Facebook — these electronic service providers, all of them that provide this service — they do a fantastic job in their reporting of the detected information…. and it’s the crux in how we begin our investigations for a significant amount of our files.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "YouTube, Facebook — these electronic service providers, all of them that provide this service — they do a fantastic job in their reporting of the detected information…. and it's the crux in how we begin our investigations for a significant amount of our files."

A suspect was arrested in west Edmonton on July 19.

A 29-year-old man was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, making child pornography, distributing child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Cross said investigators believe the alleged offences against the daughter had been taking place over the past year.

“The video uploaded to YouTube did not depict the accused person’s daughter. We do believe the male created child pornography involving his child. However, there is no evidence at this time to lead investigators to believe he had been sharing that content online.

“As a result of the investigation, the accused no longer has access to his daughter,” Cross said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "As a result of the investigation, the accused no longer has access to his daughter," Cross said.

READ MORE: Alberta parents facing charges related to sexual abuse of children

In Sylvan Lake, a 37-year-old man was arrested and charged with incest, making child pornography, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.

Their names are not being released to protect the children.

Anyone with information is asked to come forward and contact police or cybertip.ca.