Alberta Man Charged After Police Seize More Than 500,000 Child Sex Abuse Images, Videos

An Alberta man is facing charges after police report finding more than half a million child sexual exploitation photos and videos at his home.

Officers with the province’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit arrested a suspect on May 26 after seizing several hard drives and computers from a home in the town of Okotoks, Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams’ (ALERT) said in a June 3 press release.

ICE described the more than 500,000 child sexual exploitation images and videos discovered on the confiscated hard drives and computers as “one of the largest collections” the unit has ever encountered.

The number of images and videos in the Okotoks home, roughly 20 kilometres south of Calgary, was only slightly less than the 622,150 identified across the entire province over the past year, police said.

“Behind every one of the photos and videos is a real child somewhere in this world that is being exploited for a sexual purpose,” ICE Staff Sergeant Gordon MacDonald said in the release. “A collection of this size is deeply disturbing, as it would have also likely been used to trade and fuel demand.”  

ICE’s investigation began in January after the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre provided information about a suspect uploading child sexual exploitation materials, police said.

Okotoks resident Corey Airhart, 35, was arrested in connection with the investigation and has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse materials.

He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Okotoks on Aug. 8, police said.

Two days later, a man was arrested in Calgary after a “proactive initiative” by ICE investigators to target online offenders trading graphic and violent sexual materials involving children, the unit said in a May 29 press release.

A suspect was arrested by ICE and Calgary police officers on May 28 at a home in the southeastern neighbourhood of Cranston.  

Seventy-year-old Calgary resident Michael Penfold has been charged with making available, possessing, and accessing child sexual exploitation materials. ICE is also accusing him of sharing and trading photos online.

Police said the “extreme nature” of the content confiscated by officers is especially concerning.

“Unquestionably all child sexual exploitation materials are offensive, but in this case the content is particularly egregious,” he said. “This arrest is a small step towards curbing these photos and videos from being traded online.” 

Penfold remains in custody to await his June 18 court appearance.

ICE says it has arrested nearly 1,500 child sex offenders, has laid more than 5,000 related charges, and rescued hundreds of children from sexual abuse, exploitation, and/or luring since being formed in 2006.

ICE investigates any offence that involves child pornography, computer-related child sexual abuse, child luring over the internet, voyeurism involving victims younger than 18, and child sex trade/tourism.