An 86-year-old Sudbury man has been charged in an unusual case of making and distributing child sexual abuse materials.
For more than 23 years, since the year 2000, Greater Sudbury Police has been receiving sporadic reports of people finding sealed glass jars containing sexually explicit handwritten materials involving children in various locations throughout the Vermillion Lake area.
On July 12, GSPS said it received yet another of those reports from a community member who had located a jar in the area of Gordon Lake Road. Again, the jar contained sexually explicit handwritten material depicting sexual offences against children.
Then, on July 15, another jar containing similar contents was located in the same vicinity by another community member.
The unique nature of these two most recent incidents led police to believe that these incidents, as well as several historical incidents of similar nature, were committed by the same person.
Over the last 23 years, police have received 10 reports relating to incidents of sexually explicit handwritten materials in jars. They include:
- July 22, 2000: jar located near Stobie Dam
- July 23, 2000: jar located at Vermilion Lake boat launch
- August 3, 2001: jar located on ATV trail near Stobie Dam
- July 23, 2009: jar located on Pilon Crescent
- May 30, 2011: jar located near Stobie Dam
- September 9, 2011: jar located on ATV trail near Stobie Dam
- July 12, 2021: jar located on Simmons Road
- July 30, 2021: jar located near Vermilion Lake boat launch
- July 12, 2023: jar located on Pilon Crescent
- July 15, 2023: jar located on Gordon Lake Road
“Throughout the ongoing investigation into this matter, members of our Integrated Crime Team observed a man accessing jars on multiple occasions in the above-mentioned areas,” GSPS reported July 20. “On July 19, the same man was observed on Gordon Lake Road exiting his vehicle, accessing a jar containing sexually explicit materials and placing additional materials into the jar.”
Immediately following these observations, the man was placed under arrest and taken into custody.
The accused has been identified as 86-year-old Russell Brosseau of Greater Sudbury. He has has been charged with:
- Making Child Pornography contrary to Sec. 163.1(2) CC (10 counts)
- Distribution of Child Pornography contrary to Sec. 163.1(3) CC (10 counts)
Brosseau is currently being held at GSPS headquarters and will attend bail court today, July 20 to answer to the charges.
Police have seized Brosseau’s motor vehicle and residence pending search warrants.
Due to the graphic nature of the evidence collected in this investigation so far, police are concerned that there may be additional incidents, both recent and historical, involving Brosseau that have not yet been reported.
If you have any information related to these incidents or this offender, you are asked to contact Detective Constable Marc Belanger at 705-675-9171 extension 2338.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and the accused is considered innocent unless proven guilty.