Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Child Sexual Exploitation Unit executed six unrelated search warrants between September 24 and 26, 2019 in Northumberland County. These warrants were carried out jointly with the OPP Digital Forensics Unit and Northumberland OPP with assistance from the Cobourg Police Service and the Port Hope Police Service.
As a result of the search warrants, six individuals were charged with a total of 16 criminal charges.
A summary of the investigations, involved persons and charges laid are as follows:
On September 24, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in the Municipality of Trent Hills. As a result of the investigation, Kyle ELIEFF, 61 years-of-age of the Municipality of Trent Hills was charged with two counts of Possession and one count of Accessing Child Pornography. The accused is scheduled to appear next on October 16, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg.
On September 24, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in Hamilton Township. As a result of the investigation, Derek Peter MITCHELL, 35 years-of-age of Hamilton Township was charged with one count of Possession and one count of Accessing Child Pornography. The accused is scheduled to appear next on October 16, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg.
On September 25, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in Hamilton Township. As a result of the investigation, a 16 year-old was charged with one count of Making Available and one count of Possession of Child Pornography. The youth is scheduled to appear next on November 12, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg.
On September 25, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in the town of Cobourg. As a result of the investigation, Donald Robert CHOLMONDELEY, 62 years-of-age of Cobourg was charged with four counts of Possession of Child Pornography. The accused is scheduled to appear next on October 23, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg.
On September 26, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in the town of Port Hope. As a result of the investigation, Richard Bruce MARPLE, 59 years-of-age of Port Hope was charged with one count of Making Available, one count of Possession and one count of Accessing Child Pornography. The accused is scheduled to appear next on October 3rd, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg.
On September 26, 2019, police executed a search warrant at a residence in the town of Cobourg. As a result of the investigation, David McDOUGALL, 50 years-of-age of Cobourg was charged with one count of Making Available and two counts of Possession of Child Pornography. The accused is scheduled to appear next on October 2, 2019 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg
Multiple electronic devices were seized for further examination.
The exploitation of children on the internet remains a growing concern for the OPP and the public is reminded that, “Every photograph is sexual abuse of a real child. It is not just a photo. Every time that photo is seen on the internet, the child is victimized again.” -Inspector Tina Chalk, Manager, Counter Exploitation and Missing Persons Section
The Ontario Provincial Police will continue to aggressively identify and pursue individuals who use technology to exploit children.
Any member of the public wishing to report instances of child sexual abuse on the internet is encouraged to do so by calling your local police service, the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or by navigating to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection website to report it through cybertip.ca.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
