Ottawa man had more than one million child pornography files

OTTAWA -

An Ottawa man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison after one of the largest seizures of child pornography in Canadian history.

Tristan Alexandre Perrier, 68, pleaded guilty to making, possessing and distributing child pornography. The RCMP say he had more than one million child sexual exploitation files in his possession.

In imposing the sentence earlier this month, Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden stated that Perrier “glorified and memorialized” the sexual abuse of impoverished children by creating flashy magazine covers depicting it.

In doing so, he contributed to "this institutional form of sexual violence, which is akin to sexual slavery.”

The RCMP’s victim identification unit, part of its National Child Exploitation Crime Centre, started investigating Perrier in January 2020. He was arrested in June 2020, when police executed search warrants at several locations.

The charges are a result of a joint international investigation into a group of transnational child sex offenders, the RCMP said in a release.

“Although he has plead guilty to crimes committed in Canada, the RCMP does not have information to suggest the man committed sexual offences against any Canadian children,” the Mounties said in the news release. ”Some of the man's activities occurred while traveling abroad and involved crimes carried out over many years on the dark web.”

Along with his prison sentence, Perrier will be required to submit DNA samples and be on a sex offender registry for life.