Police on Vancouver Island are recommending child pornography and child luring charges against three people, including a young teen, after a week-long blitz aimed at online sex crimes.
Const. Gary O'Brien told ctvbc.ca that Nanaimo RCMP targeted local men whose computer IP addresses or names appeared in online sex crime files with the force's Integrated Child Exploitation Uunit.
One man and a boy in his early teens are suspected of downloading and sharing child pornography after police searched their homes and seized computers and hard drives last week.
"These images are distressing. These are extremely graphic," O'Brien said. "You have children from ages two to probably 15 or 16 being abused. Every time someone looks at these images, they're being re-victimized."
He said that police do not believe the young teen's parents were aware of his activities.
A 57-year-old Ladysmith man was arrested on suspicion of possessing and distributing 1000s of graphic sexual images of pre-pubescent children. He has been released from custody on a promise to appear.
Police are also recommending charges of internet child luring against a 23-year-old man, who they believe used social networking sites and chat rooms to contact underage teens for sexual purposes. He has also been released from custody on conditions.
Two Nanaimo men were investigated on child pornography suspicions during the operation, but police were unable to secure enough evidence to get search warrants. O'Brien said that police will continue to monitor those men.
Police also investigated a computer on which pornographic material was found after it was rented out and returned to a local business for re-formatting. The person who rented the computer now lives in Alberta, and O'Brien said that police in that province have been alerted.
Investigating sex crimes online
O'Brien said that the Nanaimo RCMP's serious crime unit handles online child sex investigations.
"What they've been seeing is a trend over the last few years of seeing more and more of these files," he said, adding that he does not believe that online child sex crimes are more prevalent in Nanaimo than anywhere else in B.C.
But O'Brien said that investigations into online sex crimes are often frustrated by the length of time it takes to secure charges against suspects.
It could take more than a year for Crown counsel to actually approve charges against the men arrested in the Nanaimo bust, because the computers involved in the alleged crimes must first be sent to a lab for forensic auditing.
"It takes a long time -- it takes upward of 12 to 18 months -- to do a complete audit," O'Brien said. "That's a bigger issue."
He said he'd like to see more resources poured into training for this type of forensic investigation, similar to the focus placed on genetics labs as DNA evidence emerged as a crucial police tool.
