{"id":817107,"date":"2026-07-21T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817107\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:49:09","slug":"sickkids-doctor-charged-with-possessing-child-abuse-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817107\/","title":{"rendered":"SickKids doctor charged with possessing child abuse material"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A doctor employed at SickKids has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A doctor at Toronto\u2019s SickKids hospital has been arrested on charges related to possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, police say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Toronto police said its Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tps.ca\/media-centre\/news-releases\/66477\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.tps.ca\/media-centre\/news-releases\/66477\/\">launched an investigation<\/a> in January after an electronic device was allegedly used to access and download child sexual abuse and exploitation material.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In February, investigators executed search warrants at The Hospital for Sick Children, commonly known as SickKids, and at a private residence. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Investigators said they seized multiple electronic devices, including a work computer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">On Tuesday, police arrested Dilan Dissanayake, 44, of Toronto. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material. The charges have not been tested in court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The accused was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Police said Dissanayake is a doctor at SickKids and has since been placed on leave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAt this time, investigators have found no evidence that the child sexual abuse and exploitation material is connected to his practice as a physician,\u201d Toronto police said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>Hospital releases statement<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Hospital for Sick Children has since released a statement, expressing that it is \u201cdeeply upset and dismayed\u201d by the allegations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe understand that this news is concerning, and the safety and well-being of our patients, families and staff remain our highest priority,\u201d it wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSickKids has not been notified of any risk to patients and families, He (Dissanayake) was placed on immediate leave once (we) became aware of the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The hospital went on to say that patient families who received care from Dissanayake and have concerns can email <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cp24.com\/local\/toronto\/2026\/07\/21\/sickkids-doctor-arrested-on-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-material-charges-toronto-police\/mailto:patient.relations@sickkids.ca\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">patient.relations@sickkids.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">This investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information is asked to contact Toronto police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A doctor employed at SickKids has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-817107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-apple-news","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}