Analysis of electronic data leads to additional charges against N.S. man

A Windsor Junction, N.S., man charged last year with child pornography offences is facing additional charges after police completed analysis of over 40 electronic devices seized from a home after his arrest. 

Robert Edward List, 58, was taken into custody June 25 at a scheduled court appearance in Dartmouth and charged with a slew of offences, including sexual assault, sexual exploitation and the making and possession of child pornography, Nova Scotia RCMP announced in a news release Thursday.

List was also charged with 11 counts of failing to comply with a court order and one of possessing a firearm contrary to a court order. Police say the new charges relate to recent and historical offences.

He was remanded pending an appearance in Dartmouth provincial court on July 25.

List was charged in August 2023 with 19 offences, including sexual assault, luring a child and producing child pornography. He was released with a long list of conditions that included orders to stay off the internet and have no contact with anyone under the age of 16. 

70 terabytes of digital evidence

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said the latest charges came after investigators sifted through 70 terabytes of digital evidence.

Tremblay said that represents one of the biggest digital evidence seizures in the history of Nova Scotia's Internet Child Exploitation unit, which investigates cases of child pornography and exploitation.

He said it takes time to gain access to data on modern devices and then comb through such a "substantial" volume of data piece by piece.

"They could be using search words. They could be using different softwares, so there's a variety of methods, but essentially it's kinda like, you know, I like to compare newer devices kinda like a house. You have to go through room by room kind of like file by file and go through each folder and verify what's contained within them," said Tremblay. 

The historical charges relate to three victims who were youths when the alleged offences took place.

Tremblay said those alleged offences date back to the 1990s. He said the investigation is ongoing.