Friday, December 07, 2007

Canada Border Services arrest foreign national on child porn charges

Prince Rupert based Canada Border Services agents arrested a crew member of an anchored cargo ship on Monday, after a search of a ship in the harbour resulted in the seizure of a lap top computer and flash drive where it is alleged there were images of suspected child sexual abuse.

The 58 year old member of the crew was charged in Prince Rupert Provincial court on Wednesday with possession of child pornography and was released pending his next court appearance.

A partial ban on publication has been issued for the case.

The Vancouver Province provided some background on the story on their website Thursday night.

Crew member on foreign ship busted for child porn in Prince Rupert
Staff Reporter
The Province
Thursday, December 06, 2007


A foreign national has been arrested in Prince Rupert after Canada Border Services officers found images of suspected child sexual abuse on a laptop aboard a cargo ship.

The 58-year-old crew member is alleged to have had the images on a laptop computer and flash drive, which were found during a rummage of the ship at anchor in Prince Rupert on Monday.
The man was charged in Prince Rupert provincial court with possession of child pornography Wednesday and released until his next court appearance.

A partial publication ban has been issued in the case.

Faith St. John of Canada Border Services Agency says the search of the cargo ship was a routine procedure.

But she says increased training for officers has led to a "significant increase" in the number of child-pornography seizures in recent years.

St. John says the number of border and port seizures nationally has gone up about 50 per cent every year since 2003 as officers become more sophisticated at examining computers, cellphones and other storage devices.

Under the Immigration Act, a foreign national convicted of a serious offence is banned from entry to Canada.

No comments: