Cybertip Submission Leads to Child Exploitation Charges

Edmonton… An Edmonton man has been arrested on [alert-tooltip title=”Child exploitation can involve making, distributing or accessing child pornography; luring; sexual assault; or other offences. Click for more info.”]child exploitation[/alert-tooltip] charges thanks to information collected from the United States through Cybertip, a reporting service operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

On January 29, 2019, with the help of Edmonton Police Service members, investigators with ALERT’s [alert-tooltip title=”The Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit is under ALERT’s umbrella and investigates offences related to the exploitation of children over the Internet. Click for more info.”]Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit[/alert-tooltip] executed a search warrant at an apartment in downtown Edmonton. There, they arrested Cody Normand, 21, and charged him with making child pornography, distributing child pornography, possession of child pornography, child luring (x2) and breach of probation.

The investigation stemmed from information received by Cybertip in May 2018. A father in El Paso, Texas, found evidence of his 10-year-old daughter allegedly being coerced into sending sexually explicit photos to a man she was chatting with online. He contacted Cybertip directly, who passed the information on to the ICE Unit.

“Our partnership with Cybertip is invaluable,” said Cpl. Dave Knight, ICE Unit. “The information they and other partners provide us on a daily basis is the integral first step in our mission to keep kids safe.”

A preview of electronic devices seized during the warrant turned up numerous child pornography images; the devices have been submitted for a more thorough forensic examination.

“This is another example of the incredible work the ALERT investigators are doing to protect kids. Unfortunately, the reality is that, as Canada’s national tipline, we receive reports of online child sexual exploitation every single day,” said Stephen Sauer, director of Cybertip.ca. “With new apps appearing all the time and evolving technologies, we know it can be difficult for parents to navigate online safety with their kids. We have resources to help at www.cybertip.ca.”

Anyone with information about this investigation or any child exploitation offence is encouraged to contact local police or www.cybertip.ca.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg has been operating Cybertip since September 2002. As of May 2018, it had processed more than 406,000 reports and helped remove nearly 500 children from abusive environments.

[alert-tooltip title=”More than 300 municipal police and RCMP officers work together in teams at ALERT to investigate everything from drug trafficking to child exploitation to gang violence. Click for more info.”]ALERT[/alert-tooltip] 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.