Port Hope man charged with child luring following online police investigation

A Port Hope man was arrested Wednesday as part of an investigation into online child luring.

At the request of the Niagara Regional Police Service’s internet child exploitation (ICE) unit, Port Hope Police Service arrested a man at a Croft Street address on Wednesday.

Ralph Sweeney, 32, of Port Hope, was charged with two counts of luring a child – communicating with a person under the age of 18 for the purpose of facilitating an offence – making child pornography and sexual exploitation along with one count of making sexually explicit material available to a child.

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Sweeney was transported to the Niagara region, where he is scheduled to appear in court, according to Port Hope police.

Niagara police say Sweeney was held in custody for a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday in St. Catharines.

The investigation launched in July was a joint investigation by the Niagara Regional Police (ICE) unit and the Durham Regional Police Service ICE unit.

WATCH: Peterborough police ICE unit tackles online exploitation

2:53 Peterborough police ICE unit tackles online exploitation