A Morinville Man is among 26 charged across the province in a child sexual exploitation investigation.
Alberta Law Enforcement Responce Teams (ALERT’s) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation ran between June 20 and Sept. 17, resulting in 26 suspects from 14 communities being charged with 63 offences. Most of the arrests resulted from investigative referrals from the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre. That centre works with internet and social media providers to track and investigate instances of online child sexual exploitation.
Twenty-one-year-old Brock Hann of Morinville was charged with possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and assualt causing bodily harm.
“In Alberta, those who participate in the exploitation of children will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Government of Alberta will ensure our law enforcement has the tools and resources to track down child predators and bring them to justice,” said Kaycee Madu, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General in an Alert media release Wednesday afternoon. “On behalf of all law-abiding Albertans, I thank ALERT and the law enforcement organizations across the province that worked tirelessly to arrest and charge these criminals. Alberta’s justice system is here for all Albertans, especially for children victimized by sexual predators.”
Alert said there is “no definitive link between the suspects other than the nature of offences allegedly committed.”
All 26 were charged with at least one child pornography offence.
A list of the accused is below. Details on their charges can be found on the Alert website.
- a 16-year-old young offender from Sherwood Park;
- Kevin Borchert, a 29-year-old man from Sherwood Park;
- David Cadieux, a 27-year-old man from Calgary;
- Joseph Cadrain, a 32-year-old man from Strathmore;
- Gary Campbell, a 28-year-old man from Lamont;
- Michael Ciesla, a 32-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Michael Courtepatte, a 44-year-old man from Athabasca;
- Victor Delage, a 29-year-old man from Wainright;
- Gerald Donel, a 57-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Brian Farris, a 40-year-old man from Grande Prairie;
- Humberto Ferreyra, a 51-year-old man from Lake Louise;
- Coby Franz, a 42-year-old man from Alder Flats;
- Sean Giles, a 41-year-old man from Lethbridge;
- Brock Hann, a 21-year-old man from Morinville;
- Richard Lepchuk, a 59-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Christian Meier, a 52-year-old man from Calgary;
- Troy Melnyk, a 49-year-old man from Spruce Grove;
- Stephen Miehe, a 28-year-old man from Cardston;
- Alasdair Mills, a 61-year-old man from Edmonton;
- David Peeke, a 45-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Christopher Piers-Hanley, a 31-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Kalon Specht, a 30-year-old man from Edmonton;
- Andrew Stredick, a 30-year-old man from Calgary;
- Charles Tadashore, a 43-year-old man from Calgary;
- Laurence Thrasher, a 40-year-old man from Edmonton; and
- Michael Vandermay, a 52-year-old man from Calgary.
Alert says they worked with a number of local police agencies during the investigation, including: Caribou Child and Youth Centre; Calgary Police Service; Edmonton Police Service; and various RCMP detachments, including Grande Prairie, Spruce Grove, Strathcona County, Wainright, Breton, Strathmore, Olds, Morinville, Cardston, Lake Louise, Fort Saskatchewan, and Athabasca.
Court dates for the accused have not been released.
