Child Pornography, Firearms Charges Laid in Medicine Hat Arrest

Medicine Hat… A 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged with several firearms- and child pornography-related offences following the execution of a search warrant in Medicine Hat.

The warrant was carried out by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit, with the assistance of the Medicine Hat Police Service, on July 13, 2017. The investigation began in April 2017 when ICE received a referral from the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Medicine Hat suspect uploading child pornography to the Internet.

Investigators seized numerous electronic devices from the basement of a residence, and also found a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun in the course of their search. An initial preview of the electronic devices seized found nearly 3,000 images of known child pornography stored on them; they have been sent to ICE’s forensic examiners, who will conduct a more thorough search.

Tyler Falkeisen, 32, has been charged with:

• possessing child pornography;
• accessing child pornography;
• making child pornography available;
• unauthorized possession of a firearm;
• possession of a prohibited weapon; and
• unsafe storage of a firearm.

Falkeisen was not in any position of authority involving children and there is no evidence to suggest he was in contact with any children. He appeared in court on July 14 and was released on recognizance with a number of conditions. Those include: not possessing firearms; not possessing cameras or video recording devices; not possessing computers or smartphones; not having Internet access at home; not using social media; and not having contact with any child under the age of 18 without supervision.

Anyone with information about this investigation or any child exploitation offence is encouraged to contact local police or www.cybertip.ca. For more information about how to recognize signs of child abuse, and other resources, please visit the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre website at www.sheldonkennedycac.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. Members of the Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Service, Lethbridge Police Service, Medicine Hat Police Service, and RCMP work in ALERT.

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