A Kimberley resident is the target of a child pornography investigation after Cranbrook/Kimberley RCMP executed a search warrant on Monday, June 18, 2012.

A number of computers were seized from the residence and will now be examined forensically says Sgt. Laurie Jalbert.

No charges have yet been laid.

Police are able to track the possibility of possession of child pornography through the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) in Vancouver, Jalbert says.

"Essentially when people share porn files, much like music files, they are subscribed to a file sharing network," she said. "Each of these files has what's called a hash number, a digital fingerprint. So even if the file is named something completely innocuous, the hash number can be identified.

"The ICE unit has a library of hash numbers and they monitor these sharing systems. They compare hash numbers and if a number is similar, they contact the detachment in that particular town."

Jalbert says once ICE has informed a detachment that a resident of the community may be sharing these files, an investigation begins.

"It's much like a grow op investigation," she said. "You may have a neighbour say 'I think that's a grow op', but that's not enough for a warrant. You start to look at background, you verify different things. It's more than just hash numbers, it's not a single incidence. It's many of these files are going in and out of the computer, a whole bunch of things."

Then, Jalbert says, you have to narrow down residents of the home - who is actually using the computer.

A member from another detachment, trained in computer searches, has come to Kimberley to examine the computer and access the files. Charges, if laid, will result from that forensic examination, she said.