A Canadian man is behind bars after a child porn investigation that began in Dumfries.
Steven Mackintosh, who lives in Camrose, Alberta, about an hour southeast of Edmonton, was arrested at his home Thursday, said Camrose Police Service Detective Randy Wickens.
The 33-year-old is charged with distributing child pornography.
Police were alerted to Mackintosh after a tip from Northern Virginia's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Dumfries police Officer John Chapman said he communicated with Mackintosh and posed as a male pedophile for two months.
"The man found me online and expressed a desire to meet a young boy at a retail store and then take him by force back to his home," Chapman said.
After receiving that message, Chapman said he contacted police in Edmonton to alert them.
Police searched Mackintosh's home and computer, where they found "thousands" of images of child pornography, Wickens said.
In addition to the pornography, Chapman said authorities found plastic handcuffs and magazines from the North American Man/Boy Love Association, Chapman said.
Police also are looking into the possibility that Mackintosh has ties to the Phoenix area, he added.
This is not the first time an investigation Chapman has participated in has led to the arrest of a Canadian man.
In August, 37-year-old schoolteacher Richard John Doucet of Lasalle, Quebec, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after he came to Fredericksburg to meet with a fictitious 13-year-old boy whom Chapman was posing as online.
Chapman and Doucet e-mailed each other in Prince William and Stafford counties, according to court docu-ments.
Doucet arranged to meet the boy at a hotel. Police staked out the building and arrested Doucet when he ar-rived.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement