A peace officer who worked for the City of Grande Prairie for eight years will not go to prison after pleading guilty to possessing a large collection of child sexual abuse material.
Daniel Emond, 35, pleaded guilty Monday at the Edmonton Court of King's Bench. Justice Maureen McGuire accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence, sentencing him to a 24-month conditional sentence to be served on house arrest, followed by 12 months of probation.
How the investigation started
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team confirmed at the time of Emond's arrest that an investigation began in January 2023, after a messaging app reported an uploaded image to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which alerted Canadian authorities. ALERT traced the upload to Emond, then 32 and working as a City of Grande Prairie peace officer.
He was arrested September 21, 2023. A number of his computers and electronics were seized for forensic analysis. He was charged with accessing and distributing child pornography, released from custody on a number of conditions, and was expected to appear in court October 11, 2023.
According to an agreed statement of facts presented at the sentencing hearing, investigators ultimately found 254 images and 98 videos of child sexual exploitation material on a device seized from his Grande Prairie residence.
What the court heard
The Crown identified several aggravating factors at sentencing: the size of the collection, the fact the material depicted real children, the frequency and duration of the downloading activity, and Emond's position as a law enforcement officer at the time.
Mitigating factors included his lack of any prior criminal record, his guilty plea, his participation in counselling, and the support of his family. His wife was present in court. He has one child, who he will be permitted to have contact with under specific exceptions written into the sentencing order.
The Crown told the court a conditional sentence served in the community would not endanger public safety, and noted Emond had complied consistently with his release conditions since his 2023 arrest. Defence counsel described Emond as a person who had otherwise lived a law-abiding life and had spent years rebuilding it following the charges, arguing a custodial sentence would pose significant safety risk to him specifically because of his background in law enforcement.
What the sentence requires
Under the conditional sentence, Emond must keep the peace, appear before the court when required, notify authorities of any change of address, attend counselling as directed, and remain on house arrest except for approved exceptions. His following 12-month probation period carries the same conditions, minus house arrest.
He is prohibited from communicating with anyone under 16, except for his own child as permitted under the order. He is subject to a mandatory DNA order, a 20-year registration under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, and a 10-year prohibition restricting him from attending places or participating in activities involving minors, subject to exceptions.
The mental health argument and the judge's reasoning
Court heard Emond voluntarily sought counselling and was diagnosed with several mental health disorders, though not pedophilic disorder. A risk assessment concluded he presented a low risk of reoffending. Court also heard that the birth of his child, his wife's postpartum depression, financial difficulties, and stress severe enough to require hospitalization contributed to a deterioration in his mental health, and that the defence argued he turned to the material as a coping mechanism during that period.
"I would just like to say one of my biggest regrets is not getting help," Emond told the court.
McGuire said a conditional sentence is not typical for this type of offence but found the case involved exceptional circumstances. "You took the initiative. You sought out the treatment," she told him, crediting his decision to seek treatment as evidence of significant character.
Sources:
Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team, media release on Daniel Emond's arrest, September 2023
CBC News, Former Alberta peace officer pleads guilty to possessing child sexual exploitation material, June 29, 2026 (cbc.ca)
