New details have been released in the case of a former Saint John councillor charged with child pornography.
Hundreds of pages of search warrants police used to arrest Donnie Snook last month were released Tuesday
Snook’s lawyer did not object to the search warrants being unsealed.
Snook, 41, is facing three counts of sexual interference on a child under 16 years of age, two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of making child pornography and two counts of making child pornography available.
Four search warrants were approved by judges in the case, at the request of a member of the police department’s family protection unit.
Police first searched Snook’s Martha Avenue home on Jan. 9.
They seized several items including computers, hard drives, CDs and child sexual abuse images during their search. Snook was arrested at the scene.
Police also executed search warrants at his home on Jan. 10, Jan. 15 and Jan. 18. They searched his vehicle and a camper on his property and seized documentation from the Department of Social Development.
In the days following his arrest, the search warrant documents were sealed by judges to protect the identity of Snook’s alleged victims.
Now the documents have been unsealed, vetted by the Crown prosecutor in the case, and released.
In many of the documents, names and addresses of people involved in the investigation have been blacked out.
For example, according to the warrant, police in Toronto observed a person sharing child pornography images online, but the person’s name has been blacked out.
Over the course of almost two years, police in Toronto and Saint John as well as Bell Aliant security, were involved in the investigation, which included an undercover officer from Toronto having lurid online chats with someone.
The names and addresses are blacked out, but the chats included conversations about getting access to pre-teen boys and pornographic images of young boys.
One of the warrants is directed at the Department of Social Development, asking for a complete file on Snook as a foster parent, and files on all the children that had been in Snook’s care.
That warrant is in connection with the charge of sexual touching of a young person.
The documents indicate Snook had also been under video surveillance by police.
One of the documents also notes that when police arrived at the front door of Snook’s home on Jan. 9, he grabbed a laptop and tried to exit out the back door before being arrested.
Snook remains behind bars after waiving his right to a bail hearing earlier this month.
He is expected to return to court for election and pleas on March 11.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
