Nova Scotia boy, 14, charged with sharing child pornography on Facebook

HALIFAX – A 14-year-old Nova Scotia boy has been charged with sharing child pornography on Facebook.

Const. Lindsey Donovan said RCMP officers arrested the young teen at home in Kingston, N.S., on Thursday after Facebook informed them that the image had been shared.

The person shown in the image was not a local resident, he said.

“It’s not a known victim,” said Donovan of the RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit.

“I’ve actually seen that image in different files before — just something someone would have got off the Internet and just gave it to somebody else. And since they gave it to somebody else on Facebook, they called us and reported it.”

The boy was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, and was released following an appearance in Kentville provincial court. He will return April 6.

Donovan says it is uncommon for a youth to be charged in such cases.

“There’s a proportionately higher number of adults (charged) than youth. It does happen, but I wouldn’t say it’s the day to day. Typically, they are adults.”