Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) have helped identify and locate an Edmonton man now charged with sexual assault and several child pornography offences, and have also helped rescue the five-year-old female victim.
A 36 year-old Edmonton man has been charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, possession of child pornography and making child pornography - offences allegedly committed against his now five-year-old niece when the child was an infant.
ALERT’s Northern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation unit (ICE) - an integrated team made up of Edmonton Police Service and RCMP members - started an investigation on May 23 after receiving information about pornographic material involving a child that appeared to have originated from Canada. This information was shared by United States Homeland Security.
ALERT says police were able to confirm the victim was from Edmonton thanks to work by the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre's (NCECC) Victim Identification Unit. Along with the RCMP, the Department of Homeland Security and the Ontario Victim Identification Team (a unit of the Ontario Provincial Strategy), officers gathered valuable evidence to move the investigation forward.
Based on the information provided by NCECC, ICE North’s extensive investigative work led to the successful identification of the victim.
On May 26, ICE North arrested the accused. Due to a publication ban protecting the victim’s identity, he cannot be named.
A subsequent search warrant was executed at a north Edmonton home, where computer equipment and electronic devices were seized. ALERT’s Southern Alberta ICE Unit provided assistance, as well as the ZEBRA Child Protection Centre.
“With help from our partners both in Canada and outside our borders, we will continue to protect the most vulnerable members of our society,” said ICE North’s Sgt. Mike Lokken. “While we carry on with this investigation, we are thankful to have identified the victim in order to ensure her safety is no longer compromised.”
The child has been assessed by staff at the ZEBRA Child Protection Centre. The agency won't talk about the specifics of this case. but can offer general comment when it comes to a victim who is so young.
"A child that is two or three months of age is not going to remember the events or the occurances that led to the charges being laid on cases like this," says Barb Spencer.
Still, she describes child abuse as heinous, and adds a victim should not be treated as a victim as they become older.
"It's important in regards to the people who are providing the support in her life to understand that their actions and how well they're doing with it, and how they are responsive to just giving her a normal life, that they're accountable to making sure that happens."
The ongoing investigation includes trying to determine how long the abuse lasted, and whether anyone else in the home knew about it. There is also the continued forensic examination of the computer equipment seized by police.
The accused remains in custody until his next court appearance on June 12.
ICE investigates the sexual exploitation of children through the Internet and works to reduce harm through public education and prevention programs.
ICE is an ALERT team established and funded by the Government of Alberta to bring together the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources to tackle serious and organized crime. Over 400 municipal police, RCMP and sheriffs work for ALERT.
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