Brandon man accused of uploading kids’ photos to Russian porn site

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This article was published 12/02/2015 (4248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fearing for the safety of children, police followed a series of clues that led from a Russian website to the arrest of a Brandon man charged with possessing and making child porn.

Police were alarmed after photos of girls — at least three of them seemed to be local — were posted to a website on which pedophiles were known to share pictures.

The photos weren’t child porn, but court documents indicate they sparked an investigation that led to the search of a Brandon man’s home and the discovery of child porn on computer equipment.

“He may be responsible for posting the photographs… the children posted on the website could be in danger of being offended against in a sexual manner,” Const. Pamela Klassen, Brandon Police Service forensic computer crime analyst, wrote in an application for a search warrant.

Details of the investigation are in the document, a copy of which was obtained by the Brandon Sun.

The warrant was originally granted by a judge on Jan. 5 to investigate a man suspected of child porn possession and theft. That investigation led to a charge of production of child porn.

The investigation began in November, when the Brandon Police Service was notified by Toronto police that pictures of young girls had been posted from Brandon to a Russian-based website.

The website was part of a national victim indentification project. It was common for users with a sexual interest in children to share photos on the site, a Toronto detective informed Brandon police.

The user posted the album “girls I babysit” — which contained 14 photos of six girls, aged two to nine. The photos were “head shots” and depicted no abuse, but they prompted disturbing online comments.

The Toronto detective had secured an Internet Protocol address via Russian Federal Police. Klassen traced the address to an Internet subscriber at a Brandon apartment block who was unaware others could connect to her “open” wireless Internet.

Klassen also learned that a man, stopped by police in December 2014 for having an unregistered vehicle, lived at the block. A judge had previously ordered that man to be placed on the national sex-offender registry and BPS files revealed a connection to one of the girls whose photo was posted online as well as a a conviction for possessing child porn.

It’s not clear if the person who posted the photos to the Russian website had been a babysitter to the girls. Nor have police confirmed that the 14 photographs form part of the seized material.

But police tracked down parents of least three girls who appear to be from the Brandon area.

The Toronto detective determined some of the posted photos belonged to two Brandon Facebook users and Brandon police found the parents of three girls, aged two to four. At least two were playmates.

The parents weren’t aware that the photos had been posted to the Russian-based site. But interviews led to the discovery that the man who lived at the apartment block was known to one of the parents.

BPS and RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit members searched the suspect’s home on Jan. 15 and seized digital storage devices, cellphones, a laptop, tablets, a camera, a video recorder and a computer tower. They also seized a laptop case containing children’s underwear, photos and sex toys.

A day later, Brandon police announced the suspect’s arrest on charges of child porn possession and theft. Police said a seized hard drive contained sexually explicit digital photographs of young children.

Court documents state that pictures and/or video clips showing naked girls, aged four to teenagers, performing sex acts were found on hard drives or other storage devices.

The theft charges allege that the man stole children’s underwear and an iPhone. On Jan. 22, charges of child porn production, invitation to sexual touching, sexual assault and sexual interference were laid.

The Brandon Sun later learned the man is accused of taking pictures and video of a girl about two years old, found by police on a hard drive. Police said the man and the girl were known to each other.

Court documents suggest there may be more victims. The charge of child porn production alleges pictures or videos found on a hard drive showed naked female children, aged two to 10, engaged in various sex acts. The images were allegedly made between mid January and December 2012.

Cory Bloomer, 34, is charged in connection with the case and remains in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

The allegations against him haven’t been proven in court and he is presumed innocent.