Metro Vancouver man facing child porn charges

A Surrey man has been charged with child pornography offences following a 16-month long investigation, police said on Friday.

According to Surrey RCMP, the investigation began in November of 2018, when the British Columbia Integrated Child Exploitation (BC ICE) Unit received information from the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) about a joint investigation by the Boone Police Department and US Homeland Security Investigations.

The investigation uncovered a social media group chat, where several individuals shared and posted Child Pornography materials, one of whom was believed to reside in BC.

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“BC ICE immediately launched an investigation, confirmed that the BC suspect resided in Surrey and in April 2019, executed a search warrant at a Surrey residence,” police said.

Following what was described as a “thorough and complete” investigation, the findings were were submitted to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges.

On April 2, 2020, 30-year-old Joel Daigle of Surrey, BC was officially charged with, one count each of accessing child pornography and distributing child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography. He was arrested without incident on April 14, and has since been released from custody with strict conditions which include but are not limited to:

• Not to be alone in the company of anyone under the age of 16;
• Not to attend any public park, public swimming area, community centre or theatre where persons on the under age of 16 are present or can reasonably be expected to be present, or a daycare, school ground or playground;
• Not to access any computer network including the internet to access any social media sites, social networks, internet forums or chat rooms;
• Not to maintain a social media profile.

Police said they don’t believe any of the victims in this case are local, but are asking anyone who may have information that could be of assistance to contact their local police jurisdiction.

Daigle is expected to appear in Surrey provincial court on July 23, 2020.