Degrassi High actor arrested on charges of child abuse images and bestiality

He will appear in court next month

Jason Dickens (Toronto Police Service )

A former actor on the teen high school series Degrassi High has been charged with allegedly making and distributing child abuse imagery in Canada.

Jason 'Byrd' Dickens, who appeared as the character Scott Smith on the show in 1991, was arrested alongside three other women as part of an ongoing police investigation into child exploitation, according to a statement by the Toronto Police Service.

The 45-year-old faces charges including possession of child abuse imagery, making child abuse images and bestiality.

Police in Toronto executed a search warrant in April and allegedly found evidence of a man and a woman “engaged in the sexual abuse of children and animals”.

He is due to appear in a Toronto Court on 1 September.