A 69-year-old Clarksburg man faces charges following a three month investigation into child pornography offences.
Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, Digital Forensic Unit, the Collingwood OPP, and the Town of the Blue Mountains OPP Detachment searched a Clarksburg home February 2, 2023, and seized multiple electronic devices that are alleged to have contained images of child sexual abuse.
The accused faces six counts of Possession of Child Pornography and five counts of Accessing Child Pornography under the Criminal Code. He is being held for a bail hearing.
"Our reality today is that every person around the world with a sexual interest in children has immediate access to children on the Internet. We, as parents and community members, must know who our children are interacting with online. These offenders are very manipulative and use technology to access children, even though they may be in another city or country," said Detective Staff Sergeant Sharon Hanlon, Child Sexual Exploitation Unit
The OPP promise to aggressively identify and pursue individuals who exploit children. And they are asking parents to speak to their children about Internet safety. Resources can be found at cybertip.ca or protectchildren.ca.
If you have information regarding internet child exploitation and wish to provide information anonymously you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca. Reporting information may also be made on the internet through cybertip.ca.