Please be advised: The content below may disturb some readers.
The trial of an RCMP officer who was stationed in Fond du Lac and charged with possessing child pornography continues in Prince Albert.
On Monday, police interviews of Aiden Pratchett were the focus of his trial.
On Tuesday morning, the focus was much more disturbing.
Videos and photos of children involved in sex acts with adults have been shown in court — and testimony from the case’s lead investigator says those things were downloaded by Pratchett.
Tuesday morning, Constable Chris Lair says when Pratchett was arrested on December 22 of last year, he deliberately made sure Pratchett was separate from his wife. Lair says that was because he wanted to tell Pratchett’s wife that the arrest was not a mistake, and in his view, that it was extremely serious.
Lair says he told her that if Pratchett said it wasn’t him, that was absolutely not the case.
Court viewed video of an interview between Pratchett and Lair on the date of the arrest. Pratchett says in the video he will still not be providing passwords for his encrypted devices.
In the video, Lair says his investigators found child pornography on Pratchett’s laptop and that there had been attempts to delete it.
Later in court, Lair compared flagged content (child pornography) to Pratchett’s work schedule.
The afternoon focused on technical terminology, in which witness Shannon Parker, Saskatoon Police Service ICE forensic technology member explained complex online pathways. This includes routers, and how information makes its way to a computer from the larger information network.
Parker testified that the computer tower belonging to Pratchett was functioning under a custom pathway. This means the default router settings, and other settings were manually entered.
In effect, that computer was undoubtedly the only one using a program to download the child pornography based on system IDs, the pathways, and other information Parker obtained, she testified.
Earlier testimony showed that Pratchett is tech-savvy, and was taking online courses for a bachelor of science in computing and information systems.
Video from police interviews the day Pratchett was arrested show one of the ICE unit’s investigators with Pratchett.
Sergeant Parisien says they gave his case extra diligence because Pratchett is an officer.
Parisien notes that Pratchett – by withholding computer passwords and refusing to give a statement – does not seem innocent.
So far, defense lawyers Mark Brayford and Brian Pfefferle have not asked any questions in cross-examination.
Pratchett and family members have been present in court each day so far.
Parisien will be called as a witness on Wednesday, and the Crown wants him qualified as an expert.
The trial is set to last all week.