Edmonton – An Edmonton man has been arrested and charged with 15 child exploitation offences.
38-year-old Michael John Patterson was arrested Tuesday after an investigation by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) northern Internet Child Exploitation unit (ICE) into Patterson allegedly being involved in inappropriate communication with teenage girls through a number of popular social media websites.
ICE seized several electronic devices and laid charges in relation to five alleged victims. The victims are all from Edmonton and range in age from 13 to 17.
Patterson is charged with six counts of luring, five counts of criminal harassment, two counts of distributing child pornography, and two counts of extortion.
He appeared in court Tuesday and was released on bail. He must abide by a number of conditions including: to not have contact with any of the victims or anyone under the age of 16, and not possess electronic devices that access the internet.
ICE is an ALERT team established and funded by the Government of Alberta to investigate the sexual exploitation of children through the internet.
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