David Edward-Ooi Poon, who gained media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, has spent the past several years offering psychotherapy in Ontario while also working in public health in Saskatchewan.
But last summer, Google sent a report to a U.S.-based child protection organization, one of millions submitted each year, which eventually led to his arrest on 43 sex-related charges.
Most of these tips do not lead to significant police action as they often turn out not to involve illicit material.
This case, however, was different; it prompted a strong response from authorities.
In November, Toronto police charged Poon with two counts related to accessing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
The following month, investigators laid 41 additional charges; these included sexual assault, making and possessing child pornography, voyeurism for a sexual purpose, and administering drugs to facilitate sexual assault.
The investigation is still ongoing, according to police.
Following the initial two charges, Poon’s lawyers informed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario that the allegations had nothing to do with his medical work and said he intended to strongly oppose them.
Poon is currently being held in custody in Toronto; his lawyer told a court last week that they need to wait for additional evidence before determining whether to request bail.
According to the Information to Obtain (ITO) document, which was submitted to request search warrants for Poon’s Toronto home and his electronic devices.
In total, Google sent a total of nine alerts between August and September of last year to the non-profit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is funded by the U.S. government.
The alerts flagged 11 images suspected to be child sexual abuse material.
According to Google, these images were uploaded on August 4th and 5th to a Google Drive account linked to Poon, using his birthdate, e-mail address, and phone number.
Once the alerts were forwarded to local police, authorities reviewed three of the images and determined that all depicted naked prepubescent girls; some showed explicit sexual activity and exposed genitals.
Police later obtained a search warrant for Poon’s downtown residence, seizing multiple tablets, laptops, desktop computers, storage drives, and an iPhone.
Poon was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material.
