The Kelowna RCMP say a June search of a city home turned up digital evidence that a 57-year-old man had been storing a large quantity of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, a case that culminated in a guilty plea and a jail sentence at the end of June.
How police say the case came to light
According to a recently published June 30 decision of the B.C. Supreme Court, authorities were alerted after Microsoft notified police that a user of its platform had uploaded a file suspected to contain child sexual abuse and exploitation material. The IP address associated with that upload matched the Kelowna residence of the accused, identified in court records as Daniel Perez, 57.
When officers attended Perez’s home and conducted a search, they found a laptop open on a screen showing images of children being sexually exploited. A USB flash drive plugged into the laptop contained a substantial volume of material:
- 1,724 pictures
- 16 videos
Court proceedings and sentencing positions
Perez appeared in a Kelowna courtroom on June 30 and pleaded guilty to possessing the material. The published decision records competing positions on sentencing: Crown prosecutors sought an 18-month jail term, while defence counsel asked for two years under house arrest, pointing to the accused’s background and personal circumstances.
The written decision outlines aspects of Perez’s personal history that his lawyer raised in mitigation: a chaotic upbringing, having been sexually and physically abused as a child, a 13-year marriage that ended in separation in 2006, two adult children and long-term social isolation. The decision says Perez experienced unemployment during the pandemic, became isolated and depressed, and had only recently begun counselling to address past abuse.
“The child sexual abuse and exploitation material images in Mr. Perez’s possession ranged in severity from images depicting children in erotic poses to even more heinous images of sexual activity… between children and adults,” Justice Maria Morellato wrote in the decision.
The court record also describes Perez’s own account of how he came to access the material. He told authorities he first viewed adult pornography and then encountered child pornography online, which he said continued to appear. He said his consumption escalated to the point that he would lose track of time, sometimes spending an entire day viewing the material. He told the court the images made him feel disgusted and sick, but that he continued viewing them.
Local policing and digital reporting
The case underscores the role of digital-platform reporting and cross-border notifications in identifying alleged child-exploitation activity. In this instance, a notification from a major technology company directed investigators to an IP address local to Kelowna, leading to a search and the discovery of the material on an open laptop and a plugged-in flash drive.
| Item | Count |
|---|---|
| Pictures | 1,724 |
| Videos | 16 |
Details in the court decision reflect the balance judges must strike between the gravity of sexual-offence material, the need for denunciation and deterrence, and any mitigating personal circumstances presented by an accused. The published judgment sets out Justice Morellato’s assessment of the images’ severity and the personal background material put before the court.
The matter was heard in B.C. Supreme Court and was publicly documented in the June 30 judgment. Local residents concerned about child exploitation or who wish to report suspected material are reminded to contact the Kelowna RCMP or appropriate online-reporting channels.
