The father of one of the young men who pleaded guilty to distributing pornographic images of Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons was arrested and questioned over alleged comments regarding the case, CTV News has learned.
Halifax military police say the man, a Canadian Armed Forces member, has been questioned following a complaint that someone used a Department of National Defence computer to post inappropriate online comments about the Parsons case.
Police say the man was arrested in connection with the unauthorized use of a government computer. He was questioned, but has since been released. No charges have been laid.
On Oct. 6, 2014, the Canadian Forces military police began an investigation into allegations of inappropriate comments posted online.
“Our members are held to the highest standards of professionalism and conduct at any given time, and we are subject to the Canadian laws as well as the military code of service discipline,” Maj. Yves Desbien told CTV Atlantic on Wednesday.
The allegations over the online comments were made by Parsons’ father, Glen Canning.
His complaints include changes made to a Wikipedia page containing information about his daughter, her death, and the case.
On the Wikipedia page, Canning is quoted as saying, “The two boys involved in taking and posing for the photograph stated Rehtaeh was throwing up when they had sex with her. That is not called consensual sex. That is called rape. “
The end of the quote was allegedly changed on the page to read: “That is called consensual sex.”
The military member who was questioned has been released, and is back at work. He must abide by certain conditions.
The identity of the two people convicted of distributing child pornography are protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and therefore the man cannot be identified.
Parsons attempted to take her own life at 17 and was later taken off life-support in 2013. Her parents say she was cyberbullied and was pushed to suicide after a photo of one of the boys having sex with her was passed around her high school.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl
