**** RCMP Release
Police charge two men with child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences
The RCMP/HRP Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit and the Nova Scotia RCMP Provincial Internet Child Exploitation Unit have charged two men following investigations into child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences.
On October 1, the RCMP/HRP Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit received information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding a Halifax area man identified during a Tennessee-based investigation. Investigators learned that the man had posted child sexual abuse and exploitation material online.
Search warrants were executed that day at the man’s residence and a business in Halifax Regional Municipality, with the assistance of the HRP Digital Forensics Unit. Investigators seized electronic devices and arrested the man at the business.
Brenton E. W. Mitchell, 39, has been charged with:
Making Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Material
Distributing Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Material
Possession of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Material
He appeared in Halifax Provincial Court on October 2 and remains in custody. He’s scheduled to reappear on November 26.
During the forensic examination of the seized devices, investigators with the RCMP/HRP Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit identified a man in the Antigonish area who had communicated with the Halifax area man regarding the sexual abuse of a child.
On November 4, the Nova Scotia RCMP Provincial Internet Child Exploitation Unit, with assistance from RCMP Digital Forensic Services, the RCMP/HRP Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit and Antigonish County District RCMP, executed a search warrant at a residence in Antigonish. A 49-year-old man was arrested and electronic evidence was seized.
Gary Kennedy Chisholm has been charged with Making Arrangements to Commit a Sexual Offence Against a Child. He was released on conditions and is scheduled to appear in Antigonish Provincial Court on December 23.
Both investigations are ongoing.
"The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is among the most serious crimes we investigate,” says Cst. Kelli Hennessy, an RCMP officer with the Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Unit. “This investigation highlights how information sharing and collaboration among policing partners can help identify offenders, regardless of where they’re located, and help ensure children are protected.”
In Nova Scotia, it’s mandatory to report suspected child sexual abuse and exploitation material. Anyone who encounters such material must report it to their local police or to Canada’s national tipline: www.cybertip.ca. Failure to report may result in penalties under the Child Pornography Reporting Act.
