EASTERN PASSAGE: A former East Hants resident who was a paramedic has been yet again charged with child pornography-related offences.
RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said on June 4 that the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit of the RCMP/HRP Integrated Criminal Investigation Division has arrested Todd Allen Sawler for child pornography offences.
On May 30, ICE, with assistance from Halifax Regional Police Digital Forensic Unit, RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment’s Street Crime Enforcement Unit and Community Action Response Team, executed a search warrant at a home in Eastern Passage.
“Authorities were notified by a social media platform that the Nova Scotia man was transmitting child pornography,” said Cpl. Tremblay.
ADVERTISEMENT:
At the home, officers located and safely arrested a 52-year-old Eastern Passage man.
“During a search of the residence, officers located and seized electronic devices,” said Cpl. Tremblay.
Todd Allen Sawler has been charged with:
Failure to Comply with a Probation Order (two counts)
Possession of Child Pornography (two counts)
Accessing Child Pornography (two counts)
Making Child Pornography
Transmission of Child Pornography
Failure to Comply with Order of Prohibition
This is the second time Sawler has been charged for offences involving children in the province of Nova Scotia.
ADVERTISEMENT:
For the charges stemming from his arrest in Eastern Passage, Sawler appeared in Dartmouth Provincial Court on May 31 and was remanded into custody.
He will return to court on June 17, 2024.
The investigation remains ongoing.
In Nova Scotia, it’s mandatory for citizens to report suspected child pornography.
Anyone who encounters child pornography material or recordings must report it to police. Failing to report suspicious activity could result in penalties similar to failure to report child abuse set out in the Child and Family Services Act.
The RCMP encourages citizens to be a voice for children who are victims of sexual exploitation by reporting any suspected offences to their local police or by using Canada’s National tip site for reporting online sexual exploitation of children: www.cybertip.ca.
File #: 24-33256
ADVERTISEMENT:
Sawler had been charged with similar offences eight years ago.
He pled guilty in 2016 to two counts of luring and one charge of distributing child pornography, and was sentenced to nearly 20 months in jail as a result.
The charges covered a period from June 2015 to January 2016.
At the time of his arrest in 2016, Sawler was posing as a 16-year-old boy. He was following about 7,000 people on the social media site Instagram.
Most of them were girls between the ages of 11 and 16.
