Officials with the Anglophone School District – East have conducted a sweep of schools in Riverview, N.B., after information was released by police on Wednesday regarding their investigation into a former volunteer basketball coach now facing child pornography charges.
Shawn Curtis Nickerson, 32, is facing more than 30 charges which include making and possessing child pornography and making child pornography available.
Charges also include making and publishing visual recordings of several minors “who were in a circumstance that gives rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy,” according to court documents.
It’s that phrase in particular that sparked the response by officials with the Anglophone School District – East (ASD-E), according to a letter distributed to parents on Wednesday.
Gregg Ingersoll, ASD-E superintendent, writes in the letter that parents are likely to have been concerned by the charges.
“While we have no confirmation that visual recordings happened in our schools ASD-E shares these concerns and as a precaution we have completed a sweep of all washroom and changing areas,” Ingersoll writes.
Maintenance officials and IT staff searched for any electronic or recording devices and searched any areas where those devices could have been hidden. They said they found nothing.
Ingersoll says those checks will continue on a regular basis and they’re working with the RCMP in their investigation.
Nickerson was arrested on Oct. 25, when officers search a home on Aberdeen Drive in Riverview and seized a “variety of electronic devices.”
Although he was initially charged with only one count of making child pornography, Crown prosecutors announced an additional 30 charges on Tuesday.
According to court documents, Nickerson is charged in connection with incidents occurring between June 2, 2016, and Oct. 25, 2020.
Seven minors are listed in the 30 charges. Several charges involve “unknown persons.”
With a publication ban on the identities of the basketball players, the Crown has asked to limit public access to Nickerson’s Facebook page.
It argued the order is necessary to avoid the potential identification of the victims by members of the public.
Nickerson is set to appear for a bail hearing on Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m.
— With files from Global News’ Karla Renic and Travis Fortnum
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