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NEWS Halton police officer faces theft-related charges, suspended from duty JULIE SLACK jslack@ miltoncanadianchampion.com A Halton Regional Po­ lice (HRP) officer who's been on the job for nearly eight years is facing sever­ al theft-related charges. On Tuesday, HRP, charged the 29-year-old, af­ ter an investigation into the theft of property from an Oakville home in De­ cember 2017. Police allege the officer stole property from a resi­ dence during a break-and- enter investigation. Michael Kellas was charged with theft of credit card, possession/use of sto­ len credit card and posses­ sion of property obrtained by crime under $5,000. He will appear in Milton Court on March 5. As a re- M etro land M edia file photo Michael Kellas suit of these charges, Kel­ las has been suspended from duty (with pay - as re­ quired by the Police Servic­ es Act of Ontario). HRP Chief Stephen Tan­ ner spoke about the inci­ dent: "As the Chief of Police, I am saddened, both person­ ally and on behalf of the over 1,000 dedicated mem­ bers of the HRPS, that this incident has taken place," he said. "As a service we are committed to dealing with this situation both thoroughly and transpar­ ently. We are, and will al­ ways be, guided by our longstanding principles of excellence, integrity, jus­ tice, trust and respect, teamwork and account­ ability." The investigation is on­ going. Anyone with infor­ mation regarding this inci­ dent is asked to contact Det./Sgt. Dave Costantini at (905) 825-4777 ext. 2415. Tips can also be submit­ ted to Crime Stoppers "See Something? Hear Some­ thing? Know Something? Contact Crime Stoppers" at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestopper- s.ca. Halton board occasional teacher facing sex-related charges Victor Ly, 32, of Kitchener charged An occasional teacher who instructed at more than one school within the Halton public school board is facing a slew of sex-related charges in­ volving children. Waterloo Regional Po­ lice says that on Feb. 14, as a result of an ongoing in­ vestigation by its Cyber­ crime Branch - Internet Child Exploitation Unit, a search warrant was exe­ cuted at a Kitchener home, following contact from the National Child Exploita­ tion Coordination Centre regarding allegations that a male was exploiting chil­ dren over social media platforms. Waterloo investigators say officers seized digital devices. Police say there are three alleged victims, ranging in age from 8-12. Victor Ly, 32, of Kitche­ ner is charged with three counts of luring a child, three counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of making sexually explicit material available to a child and extortion. Waterloo police say that at the time of his arrest Ly was an occasional teacher with the Halton District School Board. They say he also has ex­ perience teaching in Wa­ terloo Region private schools as well as interna­ tionally. In a letter to parents sent today by Halton Dis­ trict School Board Associ­ ate Director David Boag, Pine Grove elementary school in Oakville is iden­ tified as one of the schools at which Ly taught. Another letter from the HD SB was sent to parents of McKenzie-Smith Ben­ nett students stating that Ly was an occaisional teacher from Dec. 11, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018. "When the board was informed of the charges, Mr. Ly was immediately restricted from teaching in any of our schools. "This restriction will remain in place until this matter is resolved through the judicial system.?? This is clearly upsetting news for all students, parents and staff at the school," said Boag. 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