Ottawa police arrested a 36-year-old Gatineau man on a number of child pornography-related charges Wednesday, after taking over a case flagged to them by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations office in Ottawa.
The accused communicated with an undercover Homeland Security special agent in Tampa, Fla., on a website “commonly used to share illegal content including child pornography,” according to news release from Ottawa police.
Police allege the Gatineau man, who claimed to live in Ottawa, was looking for a mother with a young daughter to have sex with. He allegedly told the undercover agent — who was posing as a 12-year-old girl — that he was willing to travel to Florida to have sex with her.
After Homeland Security passed the case to the Ottawa Police Service’s internet child exploitation unit, the man continued to communicate on the same website with an undercover Ottawa officer posing as a 10-year-old child, police say.
In those exchanges, police allege the accused requested graphic images of children, wrote child pornography and sent graphic images and videos of his genitalia.
With help from Gatineau police, Ottawa investigators identified the man, who is now facing multiple charges of child pornography, child luring and other related offences.
Patrick Clement of Gatineau is scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to Ottawa police.
Based on Clement’s travel history, investigators said in Wednesday’s news release they are concerned there may be child victims in Ottawa, Gatineau, and the Greater Toronto Area.
They said anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS) or toll-free at 1-800-222-8477, or by downloading the Ottawa police app.
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