Sask. man pleads guilty in U.S. after unknowingly providing videos of men raping toddlers to FBI agent
CTV
A Saskatchewan man living in the United States has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after he unknowingly provided disturbing videos to an FBI agent he thought was a pedophile.
WARNING: The following story contains details that readers may find disturbing.
A 32-year-old Saskatchewan man living in the United States has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after the U.S Department of Justice says he unknowingly provided videos of toddlers and prepubescent boys being raped by adult men to an FBI agent.
According to the U.S Department of Justice and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 32-year-old Matthew Norman Ballek from Saskatchewan contacted an undercover agent thinking he was communicating with a pedophile and expressed an interest in child pornography in January 2024.
Ballek then sent an FBI agent three video files that depicted adult men raping toddler and prepubescent boys before he was arrested in the District of Columbia on Feb. 7, 2024, a news release said.
The agent was said to be monitoring an online dating app that law enforcement said it learned was sometimes used by people who have a sexual interest in children.
According to the release, the FBI also seized Ballek’s phone which it said contained 10 videos and at least 21 pictures of child pornography.
The release says Ballek has remained in custody in the U.S. since his arrest.
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