Sudbury court employee who founded youth music program faces child exploitation charges

A Sudbury man facing charges related to child sexual abuse material is an employee of the Sudbury District Court and the executive director of Sudbury Youth Rocks, a youth music program he founded in 2006.

GSPS reported July 25 that 63-year-old Joel Mackey was arrested July 18 as a result of the ongoing investigation, instigated by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He was charged with accessing child sexual abuse material and possession of child sexual abuse material. 

None of the allegations have been tested in court and the accused is considered innocent unless proven guilty.

Sudbury.com has confirmed that Mackey works for the Ministry of the Attorney General as a court reporter (authorized transcriptionist) and is a fixture at the courthouse.

For his work through Sudbury Youth Rocks, which provided musical instruction to children and teens who might otherwise not have had the opportunity, Sudbury.com profiled him as part of our Acts of Kindness series. 

At the time, he said more than 100 youth had been helped by the program, which offered young people a chance to play music as a form of therapy. 

The name of the program has since changed to Youth Canada Rocks. A post from 2019 states,  “We would like to welcome everyone to the Young Canada Rocks page. We are a non-profit program funded by United Way Centraide North East Ontario and administered through The John Howard Society of Sudbury. Our goal is to assist young people using volunteer musicians to help teach participants to express themselves using music.”

It is unclear if Mackey is still involved in the program, though his involvement with the program is noted on his LinkedIn page. 

In the original reporting of the crime, police reported that their Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit received information from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in relation to an individual believed to be accessing child exploitation material in Greater Sudbury. 

On July 3, the ICE and Computer Forensics Units executed a search warrant at a  residence in Greater Sudbury where computer devices were seized from the residence. 

On July 18, as a result of the ongoing investigation, Mackey was arrested and charged with accessing child pornography and possession of child pornography.