ECONOMIC OPTIMISM | Things are looking up for the North Okanagan economy [A7]
Morning gStar
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Friday, June 20, 2014
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RICHARD ROLKE
Morning Star Staff
ROGER KNOX/MORNING STAR
Vernon’s Rob Laird checks out a 1947 Chrysler at the 20th anniversary North Okanagan Chapter Vintage Car Club’s Father’s Day Car Show Sunday at the Village Green Centre.
Local pair charged in nationwide sting Morning Star Staff
Eleven B.C. men, including two from Vernon, have been arrested and charged in a nationwide investigation spearheaded by the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre. The investigation began from coast-to-coast in February. “To date, we have 32 charges against 11 men,” said B.C. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Rob Vermeulen. “There are also a number of investigations that remain ongoing.” The Vernon men arrested are aged 46 and 49. Each face three charges of possessing/ accessing and making available child pornography. Other men arrested from B.C. are from Kelowna, Revelstoke, Burnaby, Duncan,
Nanaimo, Sidney, Surrey and Williams Lake. Ages of the arrested range from 23 to 65. More than 150 individuals were arrested or are presently under investigation in the operation which is called Operation Snapshot III. Five children, including two from B.C., were removed from harm. Vermeulen would not say where the B.C. kids are from. “For every person arrested and prosecuted, dozens of potential future victims are saved from harm,” said RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson. “Over the past three years, Snapshot has built on the dedication, partnership and collaborative efforts of police agencies, sending a message to would-be abusers that we will not be deterred from protecting children.” The operation targeted child sex offenders who collect, possess, share, make available,
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distribute and produce child sexual exploitation material online. Snapshot III involved 167 investigations that were conducted by municipal, provincial and federal police services, which resulted in the seizure of hundreds of computers and hard drives along with nearly two million images or videos. Operation Snapshot III follows the two previously successful operations: Operation Snapshot in 2012 targeted individuals in the Prairie and Northern regions of Canada, and Operation Snapshot II in 2013 focused on individuals in Atlantic Canada. The two operations combined were responsible for the rescue of five children, the arrest of 54 individuals and the seizure of millions of child sexual exploitation images and countless leads in other child sexual exploitation cases.
A Westside Road resident was confronted in a home invasion of the fourlegged variety. Authorities converged on a property near Westshore Estates Wednesday at about 9 a.m. after receiving a report of a cougar inside the home. “A woman had the front door open and was in the kitchen and heard the noise of a squeaky toy. She went into the living room and saw a cougar chewing on the toy,” said Josh Lockwood, conservation officer. The woman immediately left the house and called 911. “She was panicked but she did the right thing,” said Lockwood. Once on scene, officers found a 12 to 18-monthold, 35 to 45-pound female cougar in the laundry room. An attempt was made to euthanize the animal but the equipment failed, so the officers left the house. When they went back inside, the cougar was in the living room. A catchpole was then used to restrain the animal. “It was in an emaciated state so it was euthanized,” said Lockwood, who admits to being surprised by the incident. “To have a cougar in a house, this is the first one for our area.”
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