A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted a Canadian man on a slate of child exploitation charges, accusing him of coaxing a minor into creating sexually explicit images and then receiving those images in early 2020. The newly unsealed six-count indictment names Cyril Borle, 55, of Alberta, Canada, and was announced by prosecutors on Tuesday.
United States Attorney Troy Rivetti said the grand jury returned an indictment charging Borle with six federal offenses, according to CBS Pittsburgh. Three counts accuse him of employing, using, persuading, inducing, and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce visual depictions, and three additional counts charge that he received those depictions. Prosecutors allege the conduct occurred on three separate occasions in early 2020.
Extradition fight in Canada
Borle did not arrive in a U.S. courtroom overnight. His appearance follows a multi-year legal battle in Canada over whether he could be sent to the United States to face prosecution. The Supreme Court of Canada’s docket records that Borle consented to committal for extradition and that his application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal of Alberta’s decision was dismissed on April 30, 2026, clearing the way for his surrender, according to the Supreme Court of Canada. The court filings indicate the dispute focused on whether he could instead enter a plea in Canada and whether extradition would unjustly infringe his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Charges carry long mandatory sentences
The offenses outlined in the indictment come with serious prison exposure. Prosecutors say some of the production-related counts carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and potential fines of up to $1.5 million, according to CBS Pittsburgh. The case was filed under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to coordinate federal resources against online child exploitation, as described by the Department of Justice. That initiative typically brings together U.S. Attorneys’ offices and federal investigative partners to pursue cases that often cross borders and jurisdictions.
Earlier Canadian arrest and investigation
Before the U.S. indictment, Borle had already surfaced in a Canadian investigation. He was arrested in St-Albert, Alberta, in November 2021 following a probe by the Ottawa Police Service’s Internet Child Exploitation unit, which received assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, according to Canadian coverage of the case. At the time, investigators told reporters they believed there could be additional victims and said Borle operated online under screen names including "Lord Primus," according to CityNews Ottawa. Those earlier Canadian charges, combined with the extradition proceedings that followed, set the stage for the matter to land before a Pittsburgh grand jury.
What’s next in federal court
For now, the indictment remains an allegation, not a conviction, and Borle is presumed innocent unless and until prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, a phrase that regularly appears in U.S. Attorney’s Office statements. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania is handling the prosecution, and investigators from federal task forces typically lead these kinds of cases, according to a U.S. Attorney press release. No arraignment or trial date had been made public at the time of the announcement; upcoming hearings will be reflected in federal court dockets and in future filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
