NZ police help catch Canadian sex offender who was making child pornography

Photo / 123rf

New Zealand police have helped catch a Canadian child sex offender after a tipping off, the Winnipeg Sun reports.

Police in the southern city of Winnipeg arrested 25-year-old Iain Alexander Tod after our digital child exploitation team contacted them yesterday (Thursday Canadian time) about a person using a Winnipeg IP address to share images of child abuse in an online chat forum.

Members of the Winnipeg police internet child exploitation unit executed a search warrant of Tod's Central Burrows home later that day and arrested him.

New Zealand police had provided the Winnipeg police with a large amount of evidence which allowed them to act quickly, Winnipeg police spokeswoman Constable Tammy Skrabek told the Winnipeg Sun.

"There was enough information to arrest him based on what New Zealand police provided," she said.

"In this case, the details were there already, so it was a little more simple."

Tod had "access to" a victim aged less than 6 - who was not a direct family member, Skrabek said.

"There was more of an urgency to get the warrant for him just because of the threat of a child's safety."

Tod could have had access to other children and it was possible "that this wasn't an isolated incident," Skrabek said.

"So that's what [the police] have to continue looking into."

He'd be charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, possession of child pornography and making and distributing child pornography.

Police were yet to rule out laying further charges because the investigation was ongoing.

Staff would seize the computer equipment Tod had access to and search it for more evidence and child porn images, Skrabek said.

The Herald has contacted the New Zealand police for comment.