Two separate child pornography investigations have led to the arrest of two B.C. suspects in recent weeks, one man in Vancouver and another in Fort St. John.

Vancouver

A Vancouver man has been sentenced to time in jail after an investigation that began over two years ago.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) announced today that it launched an investigation into child sexual abuse material in October 2018.

VPD spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin explained that the case began as a proactive investigation aimed at targeting offenders who were using peer-to-peer file sharing networks to trade child sexual abuse content.

Visintin stated that 42-year-old Ryan Jones was immediately identified as a suspect.

Officers obtained and used a search warrant at his residence in March 2019, where they seized several devices. Investigators found over 2,300 images and 55 videos of child pornography, involving victims ranging from ages three to 10 years old and “engaged in various horrific and violent sexual acts”.

Jones plead guilty to possession of child pornography and making child pornography available. 

“The downloading and hoarding of child sexual abuse material fuels the market and leads to direct harm to children,” Visintin stated, and called the case “disturbing”.

Jones has been sentenced to nine months in prison and two years of probation.

Fort St. John

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) issued a news release on February 19 stating that Calgary’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit had received a tip that enabled investigators to identify a 37-year-old suspect in Fort St. John, B.C., who was allegedly uploading child sexual abuse material online and exchanging photos with another user.

The photos turned out to be of the suspect’s own young daughter.  

The suspect was arrested on February 8. Police seized several computer and electronic devices for forensic analysis.

The suspect is charges of making, distributing, possessing, and accessing child pornography; and several firearms offences.

The investigation involved law enforcement from ICE, the Calgary Police Service, Fort St. John RCMP, the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre, and the U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Anyone with information about these cases or any child exploitation situation is asked to contact their local police or anonymously to Canada’s national tip line for reporting the sexual exploitation of children at Cybertip.