Canadian police have charged a pet store owner with criminal negligence causing death after a 4-year-old boy and his 6-year-old brother were asphyxiated by a 100-pound python.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced the charge against Jean-Claude Savoie, 38, Tuesday.

Noah Barthe, 4, and Connor Barthe, 6, were found dead on the morning of August 5, 2013, after an African rock python escaped its glass enclosure inside Savoie's apartment in Campbellton, New Brunswick, where the boys were staying for a sleepover.

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Death by python: Jean-Claude Savoie (left) with criminal negligence causing death after Noah and Connor Barthe (right), ages 4 and 6, were asphyxiated by his 100-pound python

Scene: The boys had been staying in the apartment above Reptile Ocean, a pet shop in the small city of Campbellton in New Brunswick, Canada

Suspected culprit: This African Rock Python is pictured on Jean-Claude Savoie's Facebook and could be the one that killed the boys as they slept

Police said at the time that the 14-foot-long snake slithered through a ventilation pipe. Its weight caused the pipe to collapse, and it fell into the living room where the boys were sleeping.

Autopsies concluded that Noah and Connor died from asphyxiation. Savoie's son, who was sleeping in a different room, was not harmed.

'This was a unique case in Canada and required consultation with experts familiar with African rock pythons,' Constable Jullie Rogers-Marsh said in a press release. 'In addition, as is common in major investigations, a thorough review was conducted of the evidence and investigational steps. That review determined there was sufficient evidence to lay a charge.'

Savoie is due back in court April 27. If convicted, he could face up to a life in prison.

Connor and Noah (right and left) were the sons of Savoie's best friend, Mandy Trecartin (center)

Tragic: Connor and Noah Barth are seen here with a third child as they mop out a massive glass enclosure that held some of Jean-Claude Savoie's large reptiles

The two little boys are seen here playing in the sand it a smaller snake enclosure

Strangled: Autopsies concluded that Noah and Connor died from asphyxiation

Savoie said earlier that when he found the boys, he initially thought they were sleeping, but they never woke up

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police completed their investigation in July 2014, but Savoie was not arrested until February. He was later released from custody.

At the time of the tragic incident, Daily Mail Online spoke to a reptile expert briefed by police who said that the snake had escaped from its enclosure before and was 'an accident waiting to happen'.

'This was preventable, if the snake had been kept safe and secure,' Bry Loyst, curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo in Ottowa, told Daily Mail.

The two boys spent August 5, 203, with Savoie and his son, swimming, barbecuing and playing with rabbits and other animals at a farm. Connor and Noah were the sons of Savoie's best friend, Mandy Trecartin.

A private zoo owner told Daily Mail Savoie’s python could have been attracted to the two boys because of the scent of animals on their bodies from the farm visit.

Serpent: This anaconda is believed to be one of the very large snakes Jean-Claude Savoie kept at his Reptile Ocean pet shop

Outlawed: African rock pythons like this one have been banned in New Brunswick since 1992 unless a permit is obtained

Scaly: Officers seized a total of 27 animals from Savoie's store, including two crocodiles

'Sadly, the snake could have mistaken them for a food item, which they weren't', the owner of Little Ray's Zoo in Ottowa said at the time.

In a tragic twist of fate, the two boys would have usually spent Saturday and Sunday with their dad - but he was out of town on a trip to Boston with his two older daughters from a previous marriage.

Jean-Claude Savoie earlier described how he found the boys at 6.30am on August 5 and at first thought the boys were just sleeping.

'They were sleeping,' he said in an interview. But 'they didn't even open their eyes or nothing. I thought they were sleeping until I [saw] the hole in the ceiling. I turned the lights on and I [saw] this horrific scene.'

He explained: '[The snake] went through a ventilation system. I don't understand how it did it. It went through the ceiling... and the snake fell into the living room from the ceiling.'

Noah and Connor were supposed to spend the weekend in early August 2013 with their father - Mandy Trecartin's (left) ex-boyfriend - but he was away on a trip and her friend Savoie (right) invited them other for a sleepover

Prey: A reptile expert said the python may have mistaken the children for food because they had spent the day on a farm interacting with various animals

Together forever: The two inseparable siblings have been laid to rest in one casket

Savoie said that after finding the boys' bodies, he discovered the snake coiled in a hole nearby, held it down and put it in a cage.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later ordered the python destroyed. During the investigation, they seized a total of 27 exotic animals from Savoie’s pet store.

A reptile expert who came in contact with the python six weeks before the tragedy said it was 'vicious' and nervous around people.

As the case unfolded, photos emerged showing little Connor and Noah Barthe scrubbing out the cage believed to have housed the snake that strangled them in their sleep.

The pictures of the shirtless boys, age 4 and 6, in their underwear were posted on their mother's Facebook page. Ms Trecartin also posted a picture of the children playing in a smaller glass cage at the pet store-cum-apartment in Campellton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Savoie could face up to a life in prison if convicted in the deaths of Noah and Connor, pictured left and right with their mother

African rock pythons have been banned in New Brunswick since 1992 unless a permit is obtained. Only accredited zoos can secure such a permit.

Attacks by African rock pythons are rare, but not unheard of. The last was in 2002, when a 10-year-old boy was killed and swallowed in Durban, South Africa.