A former volunteer who worked at a summer camp owned and operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton has been charged with distribution and possession of child pornography.
Tanner Porteous, 19, was arrested on Sept. 6 after a search warrant was executed at his Sherwood Park home, RCMP said Monday in a news release.
Porteous worked at Camp Encounter as interim volunteer programmer for one week in the summer of 2018, and was a camp counsellor there during the summer of 2017, the archdiocese said in a statement.
The archdiocese said it was “shocked and disheartened” to learn about the charges. Archdiocese staff have offered full co-operation to the RCMP and encouraged anyone with relevant information to contact police.
“There is no indication that the alleged offences were connected to [Porteous’s] service at Camp Encounter, and he had no access to any camp computers,” Lorraine Turchansky, chief communications officer for the archdiocese, said in a statement.
RCMP said investigators have no evidence to suggest any offences were committed against children who attended the camp near Lac la Nonne in Barrhead County northwest of Edmonton.
All volunteers and staff, including those at Camp Encounter, undergo background checks, sign a code of conduct agreement and complete an abuse prevention training program, Turchansky said.
The investigation, conducted by Strathcona County RCMP and ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation unit, began in January 2018, after the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children provided information about a Sherwood Park suspect accessing child pornography, police said.
Porteous has been released with conditions and is scheduled to appear in court in Sherwood Park on Sept. 19, police said.