Edmonton man accused of possessing 'among the worst' child sexual abuse material seen by investigators

"Extreme" child sexual abuse material was recently found on an Edmonton man's computer, leading to charges, police in Alberta say. 

Jason Campbell, 44, is accused of possessing, distributing and accessing child pornography. 

He was arrested at a west Edmonton home on Nov. 9 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip about someone sharing child sexual abuse materials online. 

On Campbell's devices, forensic analysts found material depicting "extremely graphic abuse and violence against young children," the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) agency said Thursday. 

"Some of the child sexual abuse material I saw in this investigation ranks amongst the worst I have had to be exposed to," Staff Sgt. Jonathan Morrison said in a statement. 

According to ALERT, Campbell was charged with similar offences in November 2015. At the time, he had been advertising babysitting services, so police warned the public. ALERT did not say Thursday what came of the 2015 charges. Court records show in 2022 Campbell was found not guilty of 2020 charges of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching. 

“Given the nature of the material and the prior history of the accused, [the Internet Child Exploitation unit] is concerned that Jason Campbell may have had access to children in the creation of child sexual abuse material," Morrison said. 

"We are working with the RCMP Victim Identification Unit, but I also want to encourage anyone to contact police with any information they may have in relation to this matter, or if their children had contact with Jason Campbell." 

Campbell was released from police custody and scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 24. 

Morrison said that investigators are seeing a trend of escalating "egregiousness" of child sexual abuse material.