The Ottawa Police Service internet child exploitation unit has charged an Ottawa man after receiving a tip that he may have been using Facebook to distribute images depicting child pornography.
In February, police received a tip from the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre about the unusual Facebook activity. RCMP were tipped to the content by Facebook itself which has a “safety team” of trained employees who focus on preventing the sharing of child pornography on the social media platform.
On Wednesday, a search warrant was executed at a residence in the 2000 block of Belcourt Boulevard and several computers and external digital devices were seized for analysis.
Michael Hughes, 35, of Ottawa is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for several charges relating to child pornography.
Hughes, of 2015 Belcourt Blvd. in Orléans, was charged with child porn distribution and possession in 2009 and was sentenced to two years less a day at a provincial jail.
He was on the sex offender registry.
- With files from Gary Dimmock
