In a rare proceeding, a mother has just been charged with child pornography for offering her six-year-old child to an alleged pedophile by sending him explicit images of the boy.
“Succeeding in identifying a producer of child pornography in Quebec is not trivial. And it’s even more special that it’s a woman. There is something unnatural about knowing that a mother put her child through this,” said Detective Sergeant Laura Comeau, of the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Department.
Last week, she put handcuffs on the wrists of a mother who allegedly exploited her son to satisfy the desires of a man.
The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of her son. The 33-year-old mother faces serious charges including possession and distribution of child pornography, as well as touching and sexual assault of her child.
A deal
She also faces a rather rare charge: agreement and arrangement with the aim of committing a sexual offense against a minor.
In summary, she is accused of having made an agreement with an individual so that she would send him pornographic images of her boy.
This agreement would have been made with an elder from the Laurentians, Luc Gendron. He was also accused in this case. The two accused have known each other for some time, but have no family ties.
The 74-year-old man, from Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, has no criminal record.
It was thanks to a public complaint, coming from a person who feared that the child was in danger, that the police had the mother in their sights.
“The first thing we did was to take the child out of his environment, in order to make him safe,” insisted the investigator.
Detective Sergeant Laura Comeau, from the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Department.
Photo Martin Alarie
Then followed a real race against time to put the suspects out of harm’s way.
After analyzing the electronic devices found in the mother’s home, investigators were able to identify the person to whom the pornographic material was sent.
It has not yet been possible to demonstrate that monetary transactions took place in exchange for the images.
One at a time
“Generally speaking, those who make child pornography do it for money. And that’s why there are so many, because people are willing to pay a lot of money for new content,” lamented the police officer to the Sexual Crimes Team.
The investigation is not yet complete. The police want to make sure there are no other victims or even other suspects.
“I’m resilient with the fact that I won’t be able to stop them all, my mantra is: one at a time. But when I manage to identify a consumer for this type of material, it is one more for whom we can put a social safety net to protect the children around them,” she insisted.
The latter also deplores the disempowerment of consumers of child pornography, who encourage a market where children are exploited.