A Huntsville man is among five people charged by the OPP with child exploitation charges.
Investigations took place over a two-month period and resulted in the execution of eight search warrants, the seizure and forensic examination of 47 devices and the arrest five men in separate child pornography investigations.
A total of 16 child sexual exploitation charges including luring a child over the Internet, possession, accessing and making available images of child pornography.
On April 4, the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, the OPP Technological Crime Unit, Huntsville OPP Detachment and the Barrie Police Service (ICE unit) arrested a man following a child pornography investigation. Fredrick (Rod) MacLeod, 58, of Huntsville was arrested and charged with three counts of "Possession of child pornography".
MacLeod was released from a bail hearing and will return to court on April 19, in Huntsville.
Others arrested include:
- March 28, Kyle Evans, 25 years old of Bradford, was charged with two counts of Possession of child pornography.
- On April 3, police conducted an online undercover investigation resulting in an arrest of a 26-year-old man from Barrie. Police charged Jayme Syring, 26, of Barrie, with two counts of "luring a child over the Internet.
- On April 4, police arrested a man following a child pornography investigation. Richard Sheardown, 50, of Barrie, was arrested and charged with two counts of "Possession of child pornography".
- On April 5, police arrested a man following a child pornography investigation initiated by the Greater Sudbury Police Service. Thomas Arthur Reid, 61 of Essa Township, was arrested and charged with three counts of "Possession of child pornography", two counts of "accessing child pornography" and two counts of "making available child pornography".
Members of the OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, the OPP Technological Crime Unit, the Barrie Police Service (Internet Child
Exploitation) and the South Simcoe Police Service jointly worked on several separate investigations involving the online exploitation of children.
A related investigation has been forwarded to law enforcement partners in the United States for follow-up.
The investigations are continuing.
