Log in & Sign up
Most Commented
New child porn charges
Police find video on Pointe Claire man's computer
SUE MONTGOMERY
The Gazette
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Richard Reber, a Pointe Claire man charged in March with distribution and possession of child pornography, will be in court again Monday for a bail hearing on five new charges, including sexual assault of a child.
Reber appeared briefly in Quebec Court yesterday afternoon dressed in a green shirt and blue jeans. The Crown opposed bail and ordered that Reber, 49, not communicate with his alleged victim or her family.
Some of the charges, including sexual touching, sexual assault with a weapon and making child pornography, date back to Dec. 1, 2005.
He’s charged with a second sexual assault with a weapon which allegedly occurred between Dec. 1, 2007, and March 20, 2009. A second sexual touching charge stems from an incident that occurred between May 1, 2008, and March 20, 2009.
Reber was one of two men arrested by Montreal police in March in a massive nationwide investigation into Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse that resulted in more than 100 criminal charges.
He was released on bail after being charged with distributing and possessing child pornography between March 7 and 20. He was to appear in court next Friday on those charges.
Police confiscated a computer at Reber’s home in Pointe Claire, but were only able to open the encrypted files Thursday.
They discovered a video of the alleged sexual assault, police say. Sources say the victim is the 3-year-old daughter of Reber’s friend.
After viewing the film, investigators were able to identify Reber as the man taking part in the alleged assault, which was staged in his home, Montreal police Constable Olivier Lapointe said.
The only other mark on Reber’s record is a guilty plea in February 2006 for drunk driving for which he received 90 days in prison and was placed on two years’ probation.
Also yesterday, a judge ruled there was enough evidence for a Dorval man to stand trial on 131 charges of production and possession of child pornography, as well as other related charges.
During his preliminary hearing this week, court heard that Daniel Lesiewicz, 28, pretended to be a young girl when he convinced other teenage girls on the Internet to undress in front of their webcams, then used the video to try to blackmail them.
After some of the girls contacted police, investigators began communicating with Lesiewicz, using his alleged victims’ email addresses, court heard. Through his Videotron account, they found his real name and Dorval address, where he lived with his parents and brother.
Police searched the Dorval home on March 18, 2008, and seized two computers and a laptop found in Lesiewicz’s bedroom.
On the hard drive, they discovered detailed notes he’d made of all his victims.
On Thursday, two pieces of legislation were introduced to Parliament that would allow police to remotely trigger tracking devices on cellphones and cars, and force Internet providers to cough up information on their subscribers to police.
The legislation would also force Internet service providers to install interception technology on their systems that would allow warrant-carrying police to wiretap Internet communication, including text, voice or video messages.
Police currently face a patchwork of responses from Internet providers, as some comply immediately, others delay, and some demand a warrant before releasing the information.
Others simply do not have the capabilities for cyber wiretapping.
Canwest News Service contributed to this report