Former RCMP national security officer once acquitted of child porn, now charged with sharing classified documents
Bowen Island residents shocked at RCMP boats, ERT during arrest of Michael Scoretz charged with ‘unauthorized communication of special operational information’
June 5, 2026
Former RCMP officer Michael Scoretz was with the Mounties’ Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in the Pacific Region (INSET) in 2017 when he was involved in a hate crime investigation of a Chilliwack man that led to a conviction.
Then last May, Scoretz was in the news again when he was acquitted of accessing child pornography after trial.
Now the 47-year-old who lives on Bowen Island faces 13 criminal charges connected to allegations he shared operational information from his time at the RCMP’s federal policing.
Island community shocked
Residents of Bowen Island were shocked on Thursday (June 4, 2026) to see RCMP boats, helicopters, and Emergency Response Team (ERT) members in the small community to arrest their neighbour.
One Bowen Island resident told Something Worth Reading about the arrest and how shocking it was.
“Its concerning that this man was living [near] to me and my family,” they said.
While the timelines overlap, the new charges related to national security are apparently not related to the child porn charges. There are plural "relationships" mentioned by the RCMP that he allegedly shared with so it's unclear who those people are.
Scoretz was charged with accessing child pornography after showing an image of a naked and sexualized little girl to his girlfriend in 2017. Judge Peter Whyte determined that Scoretz's romantic partner, who reported the incident, was an honest witness and his behaviour was "suspicious," but he couldn't get to the high bar of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The new charges announced by the RCMP on June 4, the same day of the arrest, appear to be linked to information he allegedly also shared with the girlfriend. The charges are that he shared protected and/or classified information with someone he was in a relationship with.
“The offences are alleged to have occurred between August 2020 to February 2023, while he was working with Pacific Region’s INSET.”
The child porn charges he was acquitted of in May 2025 were from Chilliwack in between that time, May and August 2022.
Scoretz joined the RCMP in 2009 and retired after the acquittal in 2025.
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Hate crime investigation
Scoretz’s story is complicated and goes back to the hate crime investigation, trial and conviction of a 28-year-old Chilliwack man who threatened Muslims in YouTube videos while holding weapons and dressed in military gear.
Seth Tait was convicted of uttering threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and was banned from being within one block of a mosque anywhere in British Columbia, and within one block of this reporter’s office because of threats he made.
“In these videos he is clearly seen threatening Muslims with death or bodily harm,” Judge Gary Cohen said when convicting, Tait whose testimony was described as not at all credible.
The child porn charges against Scoretz involved a conversation with his girlfriend who had asked him about the dark web. He explained how it was created by the U.S. Navy to protect American intelligence online. At trial the court hear that he then said, "maybe it's easier if I just show you," and downloaded Tor, the software needed to access the dark web to use so-called "onion routing" to stay anonymous online.
In short order he then apparently took all the steps needed to access child porn on the dark web. An RCMP witness testified how this cannot happen by mistake.
“You can’t just accidentally fall onto the dark web. You have to take very specific steps in order to access websites.”
On May 19, 2025, Scoretz was acquitted of the two counts of accessing child pornography.
He is now charged with six counts of unauthorized communication of special operational information under section 14(1) of the Security of Information Act (SOIA), and seven counts of breach of trust under section 122 of the Criminal Code.
“In his former role as a police officer with INSET – Pacific Region, Mr. Scoretz was bound with secrecy under the Security of Information Act,” according to the June 4 statement. “The charges allege that work-related material was found at the suspect’s home and that he shared protected and/or classified information with individuals [sic] he was in a relationship with, contrary to SOIA.”
The offences are alleged to have occurred between August 2020 to February 2023, while he was working with Pacific Region’s INSET.
“It is deeply troubling when a member of law enforcement is drawn into any kind of criminal allegations,” Inspector Bryan Pyatt of Pacific Region INSET said in the release. “It is unsettling for the public and for fellow law enforcement officers. However, the results of this investigation show a deep commitment by our investigators to hold individuals’ accountable no matter their employment or background.”
Scoretz is scheduled to face the charges in provincial court in Vancouver on June 25.
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Paul J. Henderson
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