International Co-Operation Nabs Calgary Child Exploitation Suspect

Calgary… Co-operation between police on either side of the Canada-U.S. border has resulted in the arrest of a Calgary man on a number of child pornography-related charges.

ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit partnered with Bartlett (Tennessee) Police Department after a 13-year-old Tennessee girl was lured over the internet. A 32-year-old Calgary man was arrested on April 25, 2017, with the assistance of Calgary Police Service and RCMP.

“The internet knows no boundaries, so police forces need to work together to keep our children safe,” says Det. Sean Spence with ICE. “This could have just as easily been a young person much closer to home who was the victim.”

The investigation dates back to January 2016 when Bartlett Police were contacted by the victim’s mother. Explicit conversations were discovered on the victim’s phone and it is believed that nude photographs were being shared over a social media application.

The suspect was believed to be in Calgary and, in May 2016, Bartlett Police turned the case over to the Department of Homeland Security, who then contacted ICE for assistance. ICE investigators identified the suspect and executed a search warrant at the accused’s home in southeast Calgary. More than 10 electronic devices were seized for forensic examination.

Kyle Wayne Jacobson, 32, has been charged with:

• making child pornography;
• possessing child pornography;
• accessing child pornography;
• making sexually explicit material available to a child;
• invitation to sexual touching;
• luring a child under 18 years of age; and
• luring a child under 16 years of age.

Jacobson was released on bail under a number of conditions and will make his next appearance in court on May 9.

“We take crimes against persons seriously, but when you’re dealing with crimes against juveniles, that’s got a special place in our office,” says Capt. Chris Page of the Bartlett Police Department. “It’s nice to see that other people who weren’t necessarily invested in our original case took it as their own and saw it through to the end. It’s impressive to see it happen like that.”

Bartlett, Tennessee, is a city of approximately 55,000 people located just northeast of Memphis.

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.

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