Fort McMurray Teacher’s Assistant Facing Child Exploitation Charges

Fort McMurray…A Fort McMurray Public School District a teacher’s assistant has been arrested and charged with a range of child exploitation offences following an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) investigation.   

Russell Hancock, 35, was arrested on April 18th by ALERT’s Northern Alberta Child Exploitation (ICE) team with the assistance of Wood Buffalo Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) and Wood Buffalo RCMP detachment members. 

Hancock was a teacher’s assistant in Fort McMurray and is alleged to have committed multiple sexual offences against two Fort McMurray students within the past 10 months. Investigators do not believe the offences occurred at the school or in his direct role as teacher’s assistant. 

Hancock is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in Edmonton provincial court on April 28^th for the following charges:  

• Making child pornography; 
• Make available child pornography; 
• Distributing child pornography; 
• Sexual interference; 
• Invitation to sexual touching (x 3); 
• Sexual exploitation (x 2); 
• Sexual assault.   

ICE began their investigation after receiving information from the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre in Ottawa and the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE executed a search warrant at Hancock’s home almost immediately after receiving the information. A number of computers and electronic devices were seized for forensic analysis.

ICE is an ALERT team established and funded by the Alberta Government to bring together the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources to tackle serious and organized crime. Nearly 400 municipal police, RCMP, and sheriffs work for ALERT.