Repeat child exploitation suspect arrested in Calgary

Calgary… A Calgary man has been charged by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit for child sexual exploitation related offences.

Bernard Hyde was arrested by the ICE unit in on September 1, 2022 and the 76-year-old man has been charged with possessing and accessing child pornography. He also faces breach offences stemming from previous ICE investigations.

Hyde had previously been charged for similar offences in 2013 and again in 2021. ICE’s forensic examination of the devices seized in 2021 found over one million photos and videos of child sexual abuse. Some of the materials depicted children as young as infants.

“This is one of the most egregious offenders the ICE unit has ever investigated. With over one million child sexual exploitation materials identified, there doesn’t appear to be any propensity for stopping and past arrests do not appear to have provided any reasonable deterrence,” said Staff Sergeant Dominic Mayhew, ICE.

At the time of his most recent arrest, Hyde was subject to a release order and a long-term supervision order with conditions prohibiting him from possessing a computer capable of accessing the internet.

Thanks to a tip from the public, Hyde was arrested after he was allegedly seen using a computer and a Wi-Fi connection of a local unsuspecting business. ICE arrested Hyde and seized laptop computers and other data storage devices from his Calgary apartment.

Hyde remains in custody.

Report suspected child sexual exploitation offences by contacting your local police, anonymously via Crime Stoppers, or at cybertip.ca.

A note about terminology:

ICE uses the term child sexual exploitation material. The term child pornography is inaccurate and benefits child sex offenders because it:

• suggests the offences are consensual acts;
• evokes images of children being provocative, rather than suffering horrific sexual abuse; and
• every photograph, video and piece of written material captures a situation where a child has been exploited and abused.

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.