TORONTO — A Durham Regional Police constable has been charged with multiple offences related to child sexual exploitation after an Ontario Provincial Police investigation.Const. Tre-Jamal Hamad, 31, of Ajax was arrested on Oct. 25. Northumberland OPP began the investigation on Oct. 21 after receiving a report about the sexual exploitation of a young person.Police said Hamad faces charges including possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, making sexually explicit material available to a person under 18, two counts of making such material available to a person under 16, luring a person under 18 by means of telecommunication, two counts of luring a person under 16, indecent exposure to a person under 16, and making prints, publishing or possessing for the purpose of publication of child sexual abuse and exploitation material.Hamid was held for a bail hearing and is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg on Thursday..Durham Regional Police said Hamad has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of court proceedings. The force said it takes the allegations very seriously but could not comment further because another police service conducted the investigation and the matter is now before the courts.OPP initially announced the arrest of a 31-year-old Ajax resident without naming him or identifying him as a police officer. Durham Regional Police identified him in a subsequent statement.OPP said the investigation involved the Northumberland Detachment along with the Peterborough County and Haliburton Highlands crime units. Assistance also came from the OPP Regional Support Team, the OPP Emergency Response Team and the Durham Regional Police Digital Forensics Unit, with search warrents executed in Whitby and Ajax.The case is the latest involving a serving Ontario police officer facing charges related to child sexual exploitation material. Police forces across the province have faced public scrutiny in recent years over the handling of such investigations involving their own members.
