Two RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) investigations, dating back to early 2017, have led to the arrest of a Churchill and Flin Flon man.
In January 2017, the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (NCECC) alerted Manitoba RCMP to an image of child pornography that had been uploaded to the social media app Kik. The IP address that the image was uploaded from originated in Churchill, Manitoba.
The Manitoba RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) immediately launched an investigation. During the course of the investigation, a search warrant was executed at a residence in Churchill, where devices were seized. After examining the evidence, it was determined that the suspect had also sexually assaulted an adult female while she was unconscious.
RCMP report that 21-year-old Joshua Proulx of Churchill was charged with several child pornography charges as well as sexual assault and voyeurism. On October 23, 2018, Proulx pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years less a day for the sexual assault and six months for the voyeurism.
In May 2017, the NCECC sent information to the Manitoba RCMP about child pornography uploaded to Google + Images with an IP address originating from Flin Flon, Manitoba. The IP address was traced to Darwyn Wasylciw. ICE officers attended the residence and arrested Wasylciw, who was found to be in possession of a device that could connect to the Internet, in breach of his probation.
Police say that 21-year-old Wasylciw pled guilty to breaching his probation as well as possessing and accessing child pornography. He was sentenced to two years, less a day and was given a 20-year Sex Offender Information Registration Act order, meaning police have access to information provided by sexual offenders required to register.
“Manitoba RCMP ICE Unit investigators work tirelessly on extremely difficult and sensitive cases,” said Sgt. Steve Rear, head of the ICE Unit. “We cannot always talk about what we are investigating because our first priority is always the victim, but we are working hard to see these offenders end up in court and are held accountable for their actions.”
RCMP remind the public that any information regarding exploitation should be reported to your local police department or online at Cybertip.ca.
