3 more Donnie Snook search warrants issued

Three more search warrants have been issued in connection with the Donnie Snook investigation, including one that's related to information filed by a member of the Saint John Police Force's family protection unit in 2009, CBC News has learned.

Snook, a former Saint John city councillor, is facing eight child exploitation charges after members of the RCMP's Internet Child Exploitation Unit raided his east side bungalow on Jan. 9.

Police have said they seized computer equipment and child sexual abuse images during the search and are currently investigating several new sexual abuse allegations against Snook.

Details about where the three latest search warrants were executed and what police seized have been sealed from the public.

But a hearing will be held via conference call on Friday at 11 a.m. to determine what, if any of the information should be released.

Brunswick News has filed an application to unseal all four of the search warrants, issued on or about Jan. 9, Jan. 10, Jan. 15 and Jan. 18, as well as any related documents.

"The investigation and the search warrants relate to a matter of public interest involving a police investigation and criminal charges against Donnie Snook, then a sitting municipal councillor in the City of Saint John," the application filed with the provincial court states.

Normally public documents

Search warrants are normally public documents once they've been executed and a return filed with the court, detailing what evidence has been seized.

"Any restrictions on access by members of the public and the press must occur only in exceptional circumstances where the ends of justice would otherwise be subverted, supported by compelling evidence, and any restrictions must be narrowly tailored," the application states.

"The sealing of the entire information to obtain the warrants and of the application for orders denying access to information cannot be justified."

Crown prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock has agreed to go through the material prior to the hearing to determine whether, in her opinion, some of the sealed information can be released without jeopardizing the case.

She could not speculate on whether any details will be made public because as of Tuesday, she had not yet vetted the documents.

But if the judge does decide to unseal any of the information, it will be made available through the courts within seven business days.

Sealed to protect alleged victim, investigative techniques

The provincial court judges who issued the initial sealing orders cited various reasons for granting them.

In the Jan. 9 search warrant, Judge Henrik Tonning said releasing the information would "raise a substantial likelihood that the ends of justice would be subverted."

He cited the need to protect the investigative techniques and software used in this investigation and other similar ones.

In the Jan. 10 search warrant, Tonning said that after reading information filed on Sept. 10, 2009 by Saint John Const. Gordon Redfurn, he was satisfied the sealing order was required to "protect the identity of the alleged victim, then young persons at the time of the offences, who could reasonably be identified based on the information contained herein."

In the Jan. 15 search, Tonning said the order denying access to information was required to "protect the identity of the alleged victim, then young persons at the time of the offences," and to "maintain integrity of ongoing investigations and investigative techniques."

Judge William McCarroll cited the same reasons in agreeing to seal the Jan. 18 warrant.

Pleas next month

Snook, 41, is charged with three counts of touching a child for a sexual purpose, one count of making child pornography, two counts of distributing child pornography, and two counts of possession of child pornography following an investigation, which began in Toronto in 2011.

The two-term councillor, who resigned last month, and now-suspended director of the Saint John Inner City Youth Ministry, is expected to enter pleas on March 11.

He remains in jail.

Meanwhile, police are investigating several new sexual abuse allegations against Snook, Saint John Police Force Sgt. Jay Henderson has said.

This is not the first time that a search warrant in a high-profile investigation in Saint John has been sealed.

CBC News and the Telegraph-Journal are fighting to have documents related to the July 2011 murder of prominent businessman Richard Oland released.

The media outlets have applied to the Court of Queen’s Bench for a judicial review of provincial court Chief Judge R. Leslie Jackson’s decision regarding the Oland search warrants.

A hearing is scheduled to be held in April.