ALERT said Tuesday that eight Albertans, including two from the Edmonton-area, were facing a number of child porn-related charges, in the wake of a months-long investigation.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) said the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit carried out a seven month investigation with help from the Calgary Police Service, Medicine Hat Police Service, Lethbridge Regional Police Service and RCMP.
The operation, dubbed Operation ICE Storm II, focused on individuals that were sharing and distributing child sexual abuse photos and videos – the file sharing in question took place on a number of peer-to-peer file trading networks.
ALERT said between September 2014 and March 2015, 16 search warrants were executed, eight individuals were arrested and 85 computers and electronic devices were seized. More than 14 terabytes of data was analyzed, and more than 100,000 pictures and videos showing child exploitation were identified.
Investigators said some of the victims are believed to be as young as six months old, and the some of those materials depict extreme sexual violence.
The following eight individuals are facing charges that include possession and accessing child porn, and making child pornography available:
- Colin Penner, 60, of Sherwood Park
- Marc Sicotte, 33, of Chipman
- Luis Bexiga, 37
- Daniel Clarke-Ferr, 47
- Brad Drummond, 33
- Michael Hilles, 40
- Eduardo Ramirez, 46
- Keith Vittie, 27
While two of the accused are from the Edmonton-area, ALERT said the other six are from Calgary. ALERT said Bexiga is also facing 13 additional related charges, while Clarke-Ferr faces seven other charges.
It’s not believed any of the victims are from Alberta, or that any ‘hands-on offences’ had taken place.
