Posted on Wednesday May 06, 2015
A joint-forces operation initiated by the York Regional Police Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Section has led to a global push to put creators, distributors and consumers of child pornography behind bars.
That push has led to 41 arrests and 110 charges laid in North America and hundreds of potential suspects identified across the globe, the public learned at a May 6 press conference.
Seven of those arrests were made in York Region.
"Every child has the right to be nurtured and the right to be safe," said Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Staff Sergeant Frank Goldschmidt. "Child pornography is the sexual abuse of children, every image of child pornography represents a child victim and every trading or transmission of that image represents a re-victimization of that child."
So far, ICE investigators have identified 19 victims ranging from 9 to 15 years old. As the operation, named Project Hydra, continues, York Regional Police and partnering agencies, including OPP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, INTERPOL and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will try to identify and arrange assistance for thousands of potential victims, ranging from infants to teens.
The investigation began in April 2014 when York Regional Police learned from the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre that images of child pornography were being uploaded from a residence in York Region. After executing a search warrant, investigators learned that a young person had uploaded the images through an online social networking application used by offenders around the world.
So far, investigators have sent out more than 350 investigative packages regarding suspects to police services worldwide.
Investigators named the project Hydra after the mythological Greek serpent with many heads. According to myth, whenever a head was cut off, two more would regenerate. During Project Hydra, whenever investigators pursued one suspect, a new collection of potential suspects and victims would emerge, ICE investigators said.
