Mountie pleads not guilty to child porn charges

A Saskatchewan RCMP officer facing child pornography charges pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Const. Aiden Arthur Pratchett entered the not guilty plea to charges of accessing and possessing child pornography at Prince Albert provincial court.

The 31-year-old was serving in Fond du Lac — a remote fly-in community in northern Saskatchewan — when an investigation began last fall. He was charged Dec. 22.

Personal computer devices were seized from Pratchett’s home and he was removed from the community.

Pratchett’s lawyer Mark Brayford said there will not be a preliminary hearing and that a trial will start Oct. 5 in Prince Albert.

“We are trying to move forward as quickly as we can. Obviously it’s not good to have a criminal charge hang over their head and his position is that he is not guilty,” Brayford said.

Pratchett was suspended with pay from the RCMP when the charges were laid.

--- with files from the Canadian Press