THUNDER BAY – NEWS – John David Cornell was back in court Tuesday to answer to charges of printing and publishing child pornography, child sexual exploitation, sexual interference and criminal harassment. On April 21, 2015, John David Cornell, 49, from Thunder Bay was charged with possession of child pornography and making child pornography available.
The Thunder Bay Police Service’s cyber-crime unit had received a referral from the provincial strategy to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation on the Internet. They had been alerted by Twitter of a local IP address uploading child pornography.
A preliminary investigation led to a search warrant executed at Cornell’s East Mary Street residence where police seized a laptop, two smart phones and 13 USB flash drives.
He was released on a recognizance of $1,000 without deposit. Conditions imposed on Cornell were that he was not to attend within 100 metres of any place any child under the age of 16 was expected to be, unless that child was in the direct company of an adult. He was also not to possess or use any device capable of accessing the Internet.
After the initial media release in April, a woman complainant contacted police to report sexual offences allegedly involving Cornell, dating back to 2005, when she was 11 years old. Following an extensive investigation Cornell was arrested and charged with child sexual exploitation, sexual interference, printing and publishing child pornography and criminal harassment. He appeared in court in July and was released on bail.
Cornell’s former attorney was Gil Labine. David Bruzzese is his present attorney. John David Cornell’s next appearance is set for February 17th at 10:00AM EST.
