Pincher Creek man pleads guilty to possession of child pornography

April 2014 ALERT press conference about Operation Ice Storm

According to the Lethbridge Herald, Brian Harrison (66) of Pincher Creek pleaded guilty in Lethbridge Provincial Court on Thursday June 18 to one count of possession of child pornography and is scheduled to be sentenced September 17.

•  Thousands of child exploitation photos and videos are uploaded in Alberta daily.
• The public can submit tips at www.cybertip.ca, a national website for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children.

Harrison is one of ten men from across Southern Alberta who were implicated in a four-month child pornography sting executed by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT),  dubbed Operation “ICE Storm”.  Charges against one of the men have since been withdrawn. Beginning in December 2013, 13 search warrants were executed in southern Alberta by ALERT’s Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) team with the assistance of Calgary Police Service, Lethbridge Regional Police Service, and RCMP members.


Another of the accused men, Paul David Marshall (48) of Lethbridge, pleaded guilty this week to one count of possession of child pornography, and was sentenced to six months in jail (also according to the Lethbridge Herald).

Operation Ice Storm targeted individuals sharing child pornography images and videos across a variety of peer-to-peer file sharing networks. The proactive investigation resulted in the arrest of 10 offenders, ranging in age from 22 to 65, with charges of possessing, accessing, and making available child pornography being laid.  Over 330 computers and electronic devices were seized, and at the time investigators estimated they could contain thousands of child pornography photos and videos.

Related links/sources:

City man sentenced to six months for child pornography (Lethbridge Herald)

Operation ICE Storm nets 10 child porn offenders from southern Alberta