{"id":817616,"date":"2026-07-22T02:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817616\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T02:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:01:08","slug":"sickkids-doctor-charged-with-possessing-child-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817616\/","title":{"rendered":"SickKids doctor charged with possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

SickKids hospital in Toronto. Police say they have found no evidence that the material linked to the charges is related to Dilan Dissanayake\u2019s work as a physician.Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

A doctor at Toronto\u2019s Hospital for Sick Children has been charged with accessing and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material after a months-long investigation. <\/p>\n

Dilan Dissanayake, 44, a staff rheumatologist at the hospital, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with one count of possessing child sexual abuse material and one count of accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, according to Toronto police. They said the investigation is continuing but that they have found no evidence that the material is connected to Dr. Dissanayake\u2019s work as a physician. <\/p>\n

Court documents show that Dr. Dissanayake allegedly accessed and possessed the material on an electronic device between Jan. 19 and Jan. 28. <\/p>\n

Investigators from the Toronto Police Service\u2019s Internet Child Exploitation Unit initiated their investigation that same month, police said in a press release. In February, police executed search warrants at SickKids and at a private residence, seizing electronic devices, including a work computer, the release said. <\/p>\n

Dr. Dissanayake appeared in court on Tuesday after the arrest and was granted bail for $20,000, according to court documents. His bail conditions include bans from accessing any social media or online messaging platforms. <\/p>\n

Neither Dr. Dissanayake nor his lawyer immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday. None of the allegations against him have been tested in court.<\/p>\n

SickKids declined an interview request. The hospital referred The Globe and Mail to a statement posted on its website.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply upset and dismayed by this news and condemn the behaviour alleged in the police investigation,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Once SickKids became aware of the investigation, the hospital placed Dr. Dissanayake on immediate leave, the statement said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that this news is concerning and the safety and well-being of our patients, families and staff remain our highest priority,\u201d the statement said. \u201cSickKids has not been notified of any risk to patients and families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which regulates the medical profession, suspended Dr. Dissanayake\u2019s registration certificate on Tuesday after police laid charges, spokeswoman Laura Zilke said in an e-mail. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe College is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure patient safety and accountability within Ontario\u2019s health care system and to upholding public confidence in the medical profession,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Dr. Dissanayake received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 2014, according to his public profile on the CPSO website. He completed specializations in pediatrics and rheumatology, which is the study of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. <\/p>\n

Dr. Dissanayake also worked as a clinical faculty member at the University of Toronto, the university said in an e-mail. <\/p>\n

The university\u2019s administration placed him on administrative leave when they became aware of the investigation, the unattributed statement said. <\/p>\n

Dr. Dissanayake\u2019s profile page has been removed from the SickKids website, but it still is accessible through the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. He received six awards for his research, with the last one in 2025 for his work studying autoimmune diseases, according to the profile. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: SickKids hospital in Toronto. Police say they have found no evidence that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,3302,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-817616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-toronto","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817616","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=817616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}