The age and gender of the accused surprised police.
"It's very uncommon," said acting Detective Sergeant Terry Paddon of the OPP's
Project P child pornography unit.
"That is a very uncommon occurrence.. ..for us to find females committing any
offences with relation to child pornography.
"The fact that she's a young person makes it that much more unique."
The girl appeared in court yesterday and is expected back in court on May 9.
Her identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Paddon would
not say where in the county the girl lives.
The girl was arrested in mid-March following a two-month "online undercover
investigation" initiated by Project P officers, the sergeant said.
He would not reveal much about the investigation but said it did not involve
direct contact between police officers and the accused. Images of child
pornography were allegedly distributed over the Internet, the detective
sergeant said.
A computer was seized and it is being examined, police said.
"But it hasn't been fully analyzed at this point so I don't know how much
material we will recover," Paddon said.
He said the photos are not of the suspect, nor do they appear to be of anyone
she knows.
"We don't know who the children are," Paddon said. "They're not local."
Lee Lakeman, a spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault
Centres, called the case "particularly unusual and sad."
"I would say 15-year-olds reflect the society they're living in," Lakeman said
from Vancouver.
"That a 15-year-old girl would think this is an appropriate way to gain
approval.. ..is a condemnation of the adults around her."
Lakeman noted it is "almost impossible" to go on the Internet "without being
confronted by images of prepubescent, or close to prepubescent, children."
"That's all targeted at adult males," she said. "It's not intended for women
and children.
"I would say this girl is the exception, not the rule."
