City man, 21, charged with child exploitation following tip from Texas

A 21-year-old Edmonton man has been charged with multiple counts of child exploitation after police received a tip from a father in Texas that his daughter was being coerced into sending sexually explicit photos.

In a news release Friday, police said the investigation stemmed from a tip received last May after a father in El Paso, Texas, contacted Cybertip, a reporting service operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

Police said the father found evidence of his 10-year-old daughter allegedly being coerced into sending sexually explicit photos to a man she was talking to online. The father contacted Cybertip and the information was passed on to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit.

On Jan. 29, the ICE unit along with Edmonton Police Service members executed a search warrant at an apartment in downtown Edmonton and arrested a man.

“Our partnership with Cybertip is invaluable,” said Cpl. Dave Knight with the ICE Unit. “The information they and other partners provide us on a daily basis is the integral first step in our mission to keep kids safe.”

A preview of electronic devices seized during the warrant turned up numerous child pornography images; the devices have been submitted for a more thorough forensic examination.

As Canada’s national tip line, we receive reports of online child sexual exploitation every single day.

“This is another example of the incredible work the ALERT investigators are doing to protect kids. Unfortunately, the reality is that, as Canada’s national tip line, we receive reports of online child sexual exploitation every single day,” said Stephen Sauer, director of Cybertip.ca.

Cody Normand, 21, is charged with making child pornography, distributing child pornography, possession of child pornography, two counts of child luring and breach of probation.