A Surrey man has been sentenced to 18-month house arrest in connection with child exploitation offences.

Joel Andy Daigle, 38, has been convicted of importing/ distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography.

鈥淒aigle also received a 20-year order pertaining to the Sex Offender Information Registration Act and must abide by multiple conditions, including those governing,鈥� reads a BC RCMP news release Wednesday (April. 3).

The offences occurred between 2016 and 2018, according to court services online.

In April 2019, police executed a search warrant at Daigle鈥檚 residence. Following an extensive investigation, he was charged in April 2020 with child exploitation offences.

Daigle鈥檚 case is part of a larger investigation with US law enforcement.

鈥淭his conviction is a result of a lengthy inter-agency investigation, in which a local suspect surfaced in a joint US law enforcement investigation that identified multiple online predators trading and possessing child sexual exploitation materials within a social chat application,鈥� Staff Sgt. Natalie Davis of BC ICE stated in a news release.

In November 2018, the British Columbia Integrated Child Exploitation (BC ICE) Unit received information from the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) by the Boone Police Department and U. S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A detective from the Boone Police Department 鈥渋nfiltrated鈥� a private group on a messaging application. Police say the group was dedicated to 鈥渢he sexual exploitation of children and the trafficking of child pornography.鈥�

The detective pretended to be a 14-year-old girl and convinced a group administrator to add him.

鈥淥ver the next several months, The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), HSI, and the Boone Police Department detective worked to identify additional members of the group and created new investigations nationally and internationally,鈥� reads the BC RCMP release.

In total, 38 leads were sent to different law enforcement agencies across the globe. To date, 23 offenders, including Daigle, have been arrested. In addition, eight children were rescued from sexually abusive situations.

The administrator of the private messaging group, Dustin Davis Haynes, 34, pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornography in a North Carolina courtroom on Sept 2, 2020. Haynes was sentenced to 65 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.