Seven people have been charged in connection to child pornography. (Photo: Pattison Media)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge man among seven child sexual exploitation arrests

Oct 7, 2025 | 10:10 AM

A series of arrests targeting the alleged perpetrators of child sexual exploitation has been made in Alberta.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) says Operation ICE Storm focused on high-level targets who were sharing and distributing vast collections of child sexual exploitation materials via peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

Suspects with the “largest collections and some of the most graphic content” were targeted through this campaign.

ALERT says it seized more than 40 computers and electronic devices, resulting in the discovery of more than 405,000 images and 11,000 videos of child sexual abuse materials.

ALERT ICE Staff Sgt. Mark Auger says, “We know that every day thousands of child sexual abuse material is being downloaded, viewed and shared in communities big and small across Alberta, and an operation like this highlights the amount of data our unit needs to comb through. One of the devices seized held more than 300,000 images.”

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It does not appear that any of the victims are from Alberta, or that any hands-on offences have taken place.

Seven suspects face charges relating to possessing, accessing and making available child pornography:

• David Swann, 37, of Calgary
• Terry Beaudette, 55, of Calgary
• Anthony Klassen, 40, of Calgary
• Jeremy Martinuk, 42 of Calgary
• Cheuk Fai Liu, 26, of Calgary
• Rowan Bachand, 42, of Lethbridge
• Jason Leone, 51, of Red Deer

Anyone who has information on this investigation, or any child exploitation offence, is asked to contact their local police or use cybertip.ca