A 49-year-old man from Leduc has been arrested and charged with 27 offences related to child exploitation, including luring and making child pornography, following an investigation by Alberta’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.Campbell Fergusson was taken into custody on June 26 after a search warrant was executed with help from Leduc RCMP’s Target Response and General Investigation units. Several electronic devices, including a smartphone and laptop, were seized during the operation.The ICE unit began investigating Fergusson in April after receiving a tip from Cybertip. Investigators allege he used social media platforms, including Snapchat, to target girls aged 15 and 16 in the Edmonton area, luring them into in-person meetings to perform sexual acts..“Our investigators and forensic technicians have successfully identified six victims linked to Mr. Fergusson, but this investigation doesn’t stop here,” said Det. Christine Sawatsky with ICE. “We have reason to believe there are more victims we have yet to identify as we discover images and videos on these devices.”ICE said Fergusson may have used several online aliases, including ‘burkeishere2525’, ‘devonhouston25’, ‘keenonhedstrom’, ‘treyliles2424’, or the pseudonym “Burke.” Police are encouraging anyone who may have been in contact with those usernames to come forward..“We hope that by releasing his usernames, that more victims will be encouraged to come forward and speak with police,” Sawatsky said. “We have supports available, through partners like the Zebra Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, for anyone who does come forward.”Fergusson faces the following charges: six counts each of making child pornography, possessing child pornography, luring a child, and communicating for a sexual purpose with someone under 18; two counts of making sexually explicit material available to a child; and one count of transmitting child pornography.He remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on July 3.Anyone with information is asked to contact local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.ALERT, which led the investigation, is funded by the Alberta government and brings together specialized law enforcement teams to combat serious and organized crime.
