A Surrey man who worked as an elementary school teacher in the Delta School District will serve an 18-month conditional sentence for possession of child pornography.
Elazar Reshef, 53, was sentenced in Surrey provincial court on Friday, Feb. 5.
The Surrey RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) launched an investigation in March 2019 after receiving a notification from an electronic service provider that an account user was in possession of child porn.
Last July Surrey RCMP Corporal Joanie Sidhu issued a press release stating that while no Lower Mainland children had been identified as potential victims, police decided to alert the public considering Reshef’s line of work.
“Elazar Reshef has been in direct contact with children during his work as a teacher in the Delta School District,” Sidhu noted in July of 2020. “As a result, the Surrey RCMP are releasing this information in the interest of public safety and to further the police investigation.”
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The school district issued a statement last July indicating that Reshef had “not been at work or permitted on any Delta School District property since July 2019.”
Meantime, Tuesday (Feb. 9) is Safer Internet Day.
The Surrey RCMP is the first detachment in B.C. to have set up its own ICE unit, dedicated to protecting children from harm.
“It is important for parents and caregivers to teach their loved ones that once an image or video has been sent to someone on social media or in a chat, they no longer have control over who sees it next,” says Corporal Danielle Pollock of the Surrey RCMP Internet Child Exploitation unit.
“Education is the best tool against online exploitation.”
Police encourage parents to warn their children about predators using online “grooming” to win a youngsters trust only to exploit them.
Police also recommend families set up sharing on electronic devices for photos and downloads so parents can keep track of how cameras are used, and also to review apps used by their children.
Some useful resources are cybertip.ca as well as cybertip alerts and ProtectKidsOnline.ca.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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