An Edmonton man has been charged as part of a cross-border child sex abuse investigation.
Trevor Smiley, 54, was arrested after the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit received information from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations linking him to an investigation in Florida.
Smiley was charged with making, transmitting, accessing and possessing child pornography, according to a Thursday news release from Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT).
Police said Smiley was in contact with Jason Davis, 41, of Cooper City, Fla., and allegedly shared child sexual exploitation materials with him.
Davis was arrested in July and appeared in court as part of the Homeland Security investigation.
ALERT said the U.S. investigation allegedly uncovered “large-scale, online group chats dedicated to sharing images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children.”
Another man from Massachusetts was arrested as part of the investigation.
Smiley was then arrested on Aug. 28. ICE executed a search warrant at his Edmonton home and seized various electronic devices for analysis.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
“It’s incredibly concerning to see these acts happening in our community, and even more so when we understand the connections of the people involved,” said Sgt. Randy Poon, with ALERT ICE.
“Our forensic technicians are combing through the seized devices and while our investigation continues, we’re asking that anyone that has information to come forward”
Anyone with information about this case or any other child exploitation situation is asked to contact their local police. Concerns can also be reported anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS.