A months long investigation between VicPD and BC RCMP has resulted in a man being convicted for charges related to images of child sexual abuse.
A 39-year-old Coquitlam man, Christopher Thomas Smith, has been convicted of child exploitation offences as a result of a collaborative and comprehensive investigation carried out jointly by the BC RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (BC ICE) and VicPD.
Smith’s arrest and subsequent conviction are the outcomes of a meticulous and proactive online investigation that spanned over several months.
The investigation, which began in June 2018, led to Smith’s arrest on October 30th, 2019, by the BC ICE.
On August 21st of this year, Smith was found guilty and sentenced to 13 months in prison for offences related to child pornography, including making or publishing child pornography, distributing child pornography, and possession of child pornography.
In addition to the prison term, Smith has been placed on three years probation and is subject to various conditions, including restrictions on his access to children under the age of 16.
Corporal Adelle Brown of the BC ICE emphasized the significance of the collaborative effort that led to this conviction.
The investigation revealed an individual engaging in conversations with an individual who, investigators believed, had a 5-year-old daughter.
The perpetrator had made arrangements to meet this person and their child for explicit purposes.
“While this work is very difficult and challenging for our investigators,” Corporal Adelle Brown noted, “We are a small passionate group committed to bringing offenders who target children for a sexual purpose to justice. Each child rescued motivates us to keep moving forward with our work.”
Anyone with information about suspected child exploitation is asked to contact local police. Anonymous reports can be made at cybertip.ca.
