Former Simcoe North Liberal candidate, Gerry Hawes, has been charged with child pornography offences following a four-month investigation, as reported by OrilliaMatters.com.
The Ontario Provincial Police say Hawes was charged on Thursday after a search warrant was executed at a residence in Orillia on May 5. He was charged with both child pornography possession and accessing child pornography.
Hawes ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate for the Simcoe North riding in the 2019 federal election.
Get breaking National news
He has no current role in the organization or its riding associations, according to the party.
“While the Simcoe North Federal Liberal Association and the Liberal Party of Canada had no previous knowledge of these charges, they are deeply troubling to local volunteers and the community, and the party takes the matter very seriously,” Liberal party spokesperson Matteo Rossi said in a statement.
Hawes is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Orillia on Aug. 25.
- Even if U.S. alcohol returns to provincial shelves, will Canadians buy it?
- Education minister ‘very optimistic’ Ontario teacher negotiations won’t bring disruption
- Advance voting in 3 federal byelections starts Friday. Here’s how to vote
- ‘We’re very close,’ LeBlanc says after meeting with Greer on trade deal
Global News reached out to Hawes for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.