An Alberta father has been charged with incest and sexual exploitation for offences allegedly committed against his daughter. 

The charges are the result of an investigation by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation team.

“We have reason to believe the offences were occurring over a period of years,” Insp. Dave Dubnyk said Friday at a news conference.

“It goes without saying, these are tragic circumstances. And understandably the road to healing is going to be a long and difficult one for the victim.” 

The abuse was uncovered during the examination of a cellphone seized when a search warrant was executed on the accused’s home in May.

Seven computers and electronic devices were seized. They contained approximately 4,000 photos and 900 videos of child sexual exploitation.

The man was charged with multiple child pornography-related offences.

During the forensic analysis, investigators identified a video they thought involved the accused committing sexual abuse against his daughter.

​ The man was arrested for a second time on Aug. 17, and has now been charged with incest, sexual exploitation, sexual assault.

Additional charges are being considered, police said.

Arduous investigation 

There was no indication that the girl, who was described as a youth, was being abused during the initial child pornography investigation, said Staff Sgt. Steve Camp.

“Our investigators took time with the family, and it became very apparent through the discussions with the family and indications that our investigators were getting, there was no abuse going on at the time,” said Camp. 

“At that time, the victim didn’t give any indication that there was any kind of abuse going on.”

It was only after a long forensic investigation that the video was discovered, and the victim was identified, said Camp. 

“This process, the forensic analysis, is a long and laborious process,” Camp said. “It doesn’t happen in a short time span.

“The extraction, the acquisition of deleted files, encrypted files, files that we can’t get into because of password protection. Once we get through that, and get in there, we have to carve and scrape that information out … and then look for child victims in there.

“To find that one video that is potentially our victim is remarkable.”

A rare tragedy 

Camp says incest charges are extremely rare.

“In my 25 years, I’ve never been involved in an investigation where that was one of the charges,” Camp said.

The man was released on bail with several conditions, including that he not have any contact with the victim and not return to the residence, pending a court appearance on Sept. 15.

The offences allegedly took place in a small town in the Edmonton area. To protect the identity of the child, investigators will not identify the community or the accused. 

Under the Criminal Code definition, incest is sexual intercourse with a known blood relative.

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