Four people across Nova Scotia charged with child pornography offences

Police arrested multiple people across Nova Scotia in connection with a national effort to crack down on child pornography.

Nova Scotia RCMP said it took part in Project STEEL by executing search warrants targeting online child sexual exploitation offenders.

“The coordinated execution of search warrants from Cape Breton to Yarmouth has highlighted the important work being done here and collaboratively across all jurisdictions,” Cpl. Oliver Roberts, said in a press release. “All police forces in this province are working hard every day to create and promote safe spaces for everyone, especially children.”

According to Mounties, four search warrants were conducted last month which led to multiple arrests and the seizure of items containing child pornography.

On Feb. 18, police in Kentville, a community in the Annapolis Valley, searched a home on Forest Hill Road where they found child pornography on a cell phone. One person was arrested and will face charges related to possession and transmission of child pornography.

On Feb. 19, multiple units searched a home on Highway 16 in Boylston, a town in eastern Nova Scotia, where officers found child pornography on a cell phone and arrested 24-year-old James Thornley. He has been charged with one count each of possession of child pornography and transmit child pornography.

On Feb. 20, officers in Eskasoni, on Cape Breton, searched a home on Ginger Root Lane where they found a “substantial” amount of child pornography saved and organized on seized devices. One person will face charges associated with possession and transmission of child pornography. A second person was arrested and released without charges.

Finally, on Feb. 26, police executed a search warrant at a business on Highway 3 in Ste. Anne du Ruisseau, near Yarmouth, where they arrested one man.

While on scene, police said they found multiple computers and media storage devices with child pornography, and two unsecured firearms. Stephen Doucette, 51, of Lower Argyle, is facing charges of possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography, careless storage of firearm, and unauthorized possession of a firearm.

RCMP said the investigations are ongoing and will include further analysis of computers, phones, and other devices seized.

Roberts notes that collaboration between agencies is the most effective strategy in tackling online child sexual exploitation.

“No single agency can police these crimes alone,” the press release reads.