OPP officer charged with accessing child porn appears in court Friday

THUNDER BAY – A provincial police sergeant charged with accessing child pornography appeared in court on Friday morning.

Mark Anthony Maltais was represented by defence lawyer Gil Labine at the Thunder Bay Courthouse.

Maltais, 46, was arrested and charged by Thunder Bay Police Service officers in January after executing a search warrant at his Mapleward Road home where they seized computers and electronic devices.

When announcing his arrest, police said the alleged offence occurred in December.

Maltais was first hired by the OPP in 1998 and at the time of his arrest was serving as an identification sergeant in the forensic investigations unit in Thunder Bay as the the unit commander.

Maltais has been suspended with pay, as required by the Police Services Act.

The charge has not been tested in court.

The case is scheduled to return to court on April 15.