ALERT UPDATE: Another Child Rescued, More Charges Laid

Edmonton, Alberta – Another child has been rescued and another arrest has been made in relation to an ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation into a Strathcona County mother.

On February 9, 2023, ICE rescued a school-aged child in Edmonton who was allegedly being sexually abused by their father.

ALERT ICE
ALERT ICE

The 36-year-old father has been charged with a number of child exploitation offences. The father had allegedly been conversing online with a 35-year-old Strathcona County woman, whom ICE had charged earlier in the month for child exploitation offences committed against their own toddler-aged child.

On February 7, 2023, we released information regarding a toddler from Strathcona County being rescued from suspected sexual exploitation and ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit charging the child’s mother. Click here to read the full news release.

These new offences were uncovered during a preliminary forensic analysis of computers seized from the Strathcona County woman.

Forensic analysis, which still remains at its early stages, has also revealed new offences against the Strathcona County woman. On February 28, 2023, she was charged with:

Sexual assault;

Sexual interference;

Sexual exploitation;

Making child pornography x2;

Possession of child pornography;

Accessing child pornography;

Counsel to commit sexual assault x2;

Counsel to commit sexual interference x2;

Counsel to commit sexual exploitation x2;

Agreement or arrangement to commit sexual offence against a child; and

Distribute child pornography.

She now faces a total of 24 charges relating to child sexual abuse material. She was released and is scheduled to appear in court on March 22, 2023 in Sherwood Park.

Charges against the 36-year-old Edmonton father include:

Sexual assault;

Sexual interference;

Making child pornography;

Accessing child pornography;

Distributing child pornography; and

Possession of child pornography.

The suspect is not being named in order to protect the identity of the victim. He has been released from custody and is scheduled to appear in an Edmonton court on March 21, 2023.

ICE’s investigation is still in its primary stages and the unit fears they may uncover additional victims and is frantically combing through digital evidence to explore the possibility of other children at-risk.

Both children are receiving help from a variety of specialized support services, including Zebra Center for Child Protection and Edmonton Police Services’ Child at Risk Response Team.

A number of partner agencies were involved in this investigation including Strathcona County RCMP, Fort Saskatchewan RCMP, Edmonton Police Service, ALERT Surveillance teams, FBI, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

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 www.cybertip.ca.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.

BACKGROUND

Toddler Rescued from Sexual Abuse

February 7, 2023

Edmonton, Alberta – A toddler from Strathcona County has been rescued from suspected sexual exploitation. ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit has charged the child’s mother.

ICE rescued the child on February 4, 2023 after entering the home under exigent circumstances. A tip from the FBI, received less than 48 hours earlier, detailed alleged prolific and ongoing sexual abuse of a young child in Alberta.

The child was taken to hospital for evaluation and has received help from a variety of specialized support services, including Zebra Center for Child Protection and Edmonton Police Services’ Child at Risk Response Team. Alberta’s Children’s Services is also involved.

The victims’ mother has been charged and her name is not being released in order to protect the identity of the victim.

The 35-year-old woman has been charged with:

Sexual exploitation;

Sexual interference;

Arrangement to commit a sexual offence against a child;

Making child pornography;

Distribution of child pornography;

Accessing child pornography; and

Possession of child pornography.

The suspect was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court on February 22, 2023 in Sherwood Park.

The victim’s father was unaware of the alleged offences and has been fully cooperative with the investigation.

The alleged sexual abuse was uncovered and in relation to an arrest that took place in Yuba City, Calif. in October 2022. Yuba City Police Department charged Brian Davis, a 30-year-old man, with suspicion of oral copulation with a victim under 10 years old, possession of obscene matter involving a minor in sexual acts with the intent to distribute.

Forensic analysis and examination of devices seized from Davis later uncovered that he had been conversing over the social media platform Kik with a woman somewhere in the Edmonton region. The chats depicted and communicated graphic sexual abuse of the woman’s child.

Via the FBI, this information was shared with the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Center and ICE on February 3, 2023. ICE acted quickly to identify and relied upon exigent circumstances to identify and locate the suspect and rescue the child.

A number of partner agencies were involved in this investigation including Strathcona County RCMP, Edmonton Police Service, ALERT Surveillance teams, FBI, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

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 www.cybertip.ca.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.

ALERT

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