A man facing 26 new charges in connection to a child pornography investigation must wait at least one more week to find out if he will be granted bail.
A judge at Saskatoon provincial court Wednesday reserved his decision in the bail hearing of 55-year-old Russell Dennis Wolfe until next week.
Wolfe was arrested in May on child pornography charges and arrested again Tuesday on 26 new offences, including making child pornography, sexual assault, sexual interference and procuring the sexual services of a person under 18.
He faces 35 charges in total. Investigators believe the offences occurred between 1997 and 2010.
Saskatchewan police said in July they were working to identify over a dozen girls who appeared in images and videos seized from Wolfe’s home.
Wolfe’s defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said the case involves 10 complainants. He expects the case to go to trial.
“These are cases that on paper I think they might look one way and in a court room they’re going to look a totally different way,” said Pfefferle. “I don’t anticipate the accused acknowledging guilt. I don’t anticipate this file resolving itself. I anticipate a trial.”
Wolfe was arrested over the summer on charges of accessing, possessing and making child pornography available following a country-wide police bust — known as Operation Snapshot III. The investigation into child pornography, which involved over 40 police agencies across the country, saw more than 150 individuals arrested and 343 charges laid.
Both the Crown and defence submitted arguments — which are subject to a publication ban — Wednesday during Wolfe’s bail hearing.
The judge reserved his bail decision until Feb. 3.
