A 30-year-old man has been arrested and charged after the parents of a 12-year-old girl discovered explicit chats and photos and contacted RCMP.
According to RCMP officials, the parents of the preteen made the disturbing discovery in August of this year and notified the authorities.
An investigation was conducted by members of the Rocky Mountain House RCMP detachment and the Internet Child Exploitation unit of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) and a suspect was identified.
On November 16, 30-year-old Tyler James Cumberland was arrested.
According to RCMP, Cumberland met the young girl on social media and was aware that she was underage. The accused allegedly had sexualized conversations with the victim and explicit photos were shared.
Cumberland faces a number of charges including:
- Child luring (two counts)
- Making child pornography
- Possessing child pornography
- Accessing child pornography
- Making sexually explicit materials available to a child
“We applaud the victim’s family for coming forward and contacting police,” said Staff Sergeant Mark Groves of the Rocky Mountain House RCMP. “The parent’s intervention could have possibly prevented this relationship from progressing and much worse offences being committed.”
Cumberland is scheduled to make his next court appearance on December 6, 2017.
