West Shore RCMP experiences 105% increase in child pornography investigations

West Shore

2023-03-20 10:22 PDT

The West Shore RCMP Serious Crime Unit is responsible for investigating a variety of serious criminal offences like Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, Robbery and Firearms related offences. However, the majority of their investigations consist of crimes like Possession, Distribution and Production of Child Pornography.

In 2022, there were 39 Child Pornography investigations representing a 105% increase compared to 2021 when there were 19 Child Pornography investigations.

The officers in the Serious Crime Unit are extremely dedicated and invest enormous effort into investigating these terrible crimes. Though the number of these investigations appears to be increasing year over year, the unit takes some comfort in these recent convictions said Sergeant Thana Hodge, West Shore RCMP Serious Crime Unit.

Recent convictions:

• February 2023, a 33-year-old male was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography and sentenced to a 7 month Conditional Sentence Order and 18 months probation. The investigation took approximately 8 months to complete;
• January 2023, an 18-year jail sentence was given to an adult male convicted of Sexual Assault, Invitation to Sexual Touching, Possession and Production of Child Pornography. This investigation took approximately 1 year to complete;
• December 2022, a 28-year-old male was convicted of Sexual Assault and Sexual Interference and was sentenced to 2 years less a day in jail. This investigation took over 2 years to complete;
• December 2022, a 30-year-old male was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography, Distribution of Child Pornography and Counselling (others) to commit an offence. He was sentenced to 4 years in jail. This investigation took approximately 1 year to complete;
• November 2022, a 40-year-old male was convicted of being in Possession of Child Pornography and sentenced to 18-months jail and 2 years Probation. This investigation took approximately 2.5 years to complete;
• September 2022, a 28-year-old female was convicted of Luring a Child under the age of 16 and 2 counts of Sexual Assault. She was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail. This investigation took 1.5 years to complete;
• In order to protect the identity of the victims, further details of the above noted investigations will not be released.

Child Pornography investigations take anywhere from months to several years to complete as they are complex in nature and rely heavily on policing resources. Investigators are almost always required to obtain production orders, search warrants, conduct surveillance and use the skills of Tech Crime Specialists to analyse enormous amounts of digital data. We thank our officers for their unwavering dedication.

If you are a victim of crime, help is available. Contact your local police to report a crime and visit Victimsinfo.ca for more information and resources.
 

Released by

Cpl. Nancy Saggar

Email: westshore_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Website: westshore.rcmp-grc.gc.ca (English only)

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