B.C. father charged, child rescued after Alberta sex abuse investigation

Police have charged a father from British Columbia after he allegedly sent illicit photos of his young daughter to another person.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) says its Calgary-based Internet Child Exploitation unit (ICE) identified a 37-year-old Fort St. John man who allegedly uploaded “child sex abuse materials” online and distributed them to another user.

“Further investigation revealed the photos were of the suspect’s young daughter,” ALERT said in a Friday news release.

The man, whose name isn’t being released to protect the identity of the victim, was arrested on Feb. 8.

“Our primary concern was the health and well-being of that child,” ALERT’s Sgt. Randy Poon said. “Once we received that tip, our investigators sprang into action and made an arrest as quickly as possible.”

ALERT said the victim and family members are receiving help from a variety of specialized support services and that children’s services is involved.

Police have seized a number of electronic devices for forensic analysis.

The 37-year-old man has been charged with making child pornography, distributing child pornography, possessing child pornography, accessing child pornography and several firearms offences.

“These types of crimes don’t respect borders or boundaries,” Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, RCMP B.C. North District, said. “The cooperation and enforcement between partners needs to be seamless and this file is an example of the efforts underway to detect, deter and investigate child exploitation files.”

Anyone with information about this case or any child exploitation situation is asked to contact their local police or to report their concern anonymously at cybertip.ca.