Rehtaeh Parsons case: Dad of guilty man reportedly arrested in Wikipedia edits probe

The father of one of the men who pleaded guilty in the Rehtaeh Parsons case was arrested for allegedly using a computer at a Nova Scotia Canadian Forces base to make inappropriate web comments, and edit the Wikipedia entry about the girl's death, according to her father.

Glen Canning says he was contacted by a Halifax military police officer Wednesday morning. 

Wikipedia's revision history shows more than a dozen changes were made to its page about Rehtaeh. A quote attributed to Canning was changed to make it appear as though he said his daughter had consensual sex with two boys who were later convicted of child pornography.

The Department of National Defence said an individual was arrested Tuesday at CFB Shearwater, and questioned following a complaint about someone making inappropriate comments online.

The department wouldn't confirm the connection to the Rehtaeh case. They have said they are investigating allegations her Wikipedia page was altered from a DND IP address.

No charges were laid and the man was released.

Maj. Yves Desbiens says the investigation began in the fall of 2014.

He says the identity of the military member is protected by the Privacy Act.

On his blog, Canning wrote that he filed a report with the military police in Halifax on Oct. 6 after comments were left on his website.

"I knew nothing of the Wikipedia edits until the Ottawa Citizen reported on them [in February]. I didn’t file any complaints about the edits, but did send the article to the officer I spoke with in October," Canning wrote Thursday.

Canning has long fought the publication ban on his daughter's name. In December, Nova Scotia's Public Prosecution Service was instructed not to prosecute anyone who publishes Rehtaeh's name as long as it's not used in a derogatory way.

Parsons attempted to take her own life at age 17 and was later taken off life support in 2013.

Her parents say she was cyberbullied and pushed to suicide after a photo of one of the boys having sex with her was passed around her high school. Parsons's family alleges she was sexually assaulted in November 2011.