Halifax doctor mistaken for child porn suspect

In a bizarre case of mistaken identity, Halifax police blamed unnamed “partner” agencies Tuesday for providing erroneous information that led to the arrest of a local doctor who was wrongly accused of possessing child pornography.

The force said it received information from two agencies — one Canadian and one American — before its Internet Child Exploitation team executed a search warrant on the doctor's residence Dec. 2. The doctor was arrested but not charged.

On Jan. 22, one of the agencies alerted investigators that a mistake had been made.

Patrick Atherton, the lawyer for the doctor, said it appears one of the agencies sent Halifax police the wrong email address for the suspect.

“They either didn't include or transposed digits in the email and wound up searching the wrong residence and arresting the wrong person,” Atherton said.

Spokesman Const. John MacLeod refused to name the agencies or the accused.

Dr. Gus Grant, of the college of physicians and surgeons, said the Crown confirmed police had mistaken Dr. David Barnett for someone with a similar name and email address in Ohio, who has been arrested.

“We recognize and regret the deeply negative impact of an unfortunate error of this nature,” Halifax Regional Police said in a statement Tuesday.