Five people from Grande Prairie are facing several child pornography charges after a joint investigation between the Grande Prairie RCMP and ALERT Internet Child Exploitation Unit.
The three-day investigation led to seven ICE-led search warrants on seven Grande Prairie homes between November 27th and 30th. According to investigators, Operation ICE Tundra was initiated in October due to an increase in case referrals originating in Grande Prairie.
ICE representative Sergeant Kerry Shima says the operation is an important one as it establishes a zero-tolerance mindset for abuse survivors in small communities.
“An operation of this scale isn’t possible every day, but our unit must create a presence in smaller communities, showing that we will not tolerate this abuse against children.”
Full forensic analysis is ongoing and ICE says further investigation could lead to additional arrests, charges, or potential victim identification.
Five males, ranging from 29-years-old to 56-years-old, are all facing charges of access, possession and transmitting child pornography; however, ICE says they do not believe the suspects are known to one another, and the investigations do not appear to be connected.
