A 60-year-old Edmonton man employed as a case aide by Alberta Children’s Services has been charged with child exploitation-related offences.
Ray Neveu, whose home also operated as an unlicensed babysitting and child-care service, was arrested Wednesday by the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, ALERT said in a news release Friday.
Neveu has been charged with child luring, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.
He is employed as a case aide at the Stony Plain office of Alberta Children’s Services, ALERT said.
Neveu’s northeast Edmonton home was operating as an unlicensed private babysitting and child care service, with his wife acting as the primary operator, ALERT said.
Roughly nine children were using the services of the home and it is believed to have been operating for the past 10 years.
“At this point in the investigation, it does not appear any children were offended upon,” the news release said. “However, ICE believes Neveu was left alone with children at the residence and through his employment.”
Information sought from public
The investigation is continuing.
“The combination of the alleged offences and the suspect’s access to children poses an obvious concern. Our investigation will explore if any children were harmed, and we are soliciting information from the public,” said Cpl. Cameron Dunn of the ICE unit.
ICE is asking anyone with information about this investigation, or any child exploitation offence, to contact local police or www.cybertip.ca.
Neveu’s arrest came after a week-long investigation prompted by a tip from the public.
Neveu had allegedly been engaged in sexually explicit online chats with underage victims where photos were exchanged.
ALERT tackles serious and organized crimes. Members of the Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Service, Lethbridge Police Service, Medicine Hat Police Service, and RCMP are involved in ALERT.
Cpl. Cameron Dunn of the ICE Unit is expected to provide more details on the case at a news conference scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday inside ALERT headquarters in Edmonton.