CNews
30 March 2010
By ROB LAMBERTI, QMI Agency
TORONTO — A Brampton man was the domino that launched the downfall of 73 people in a world-wide child pornography ring.
The 29-year-old was the only Canadian arrested, but his arrest in November led investigators to the sweeping Project Unity which identified 73 people in 20 countries, including 18 in Germany, 10 in the U.S., five in the Netherlands, four in Russia, two in India and even one in Oman.
Peel Regional Police were tipped about the Brampton man by Edmonton police last year and follow-up investigation spread throughout the world.
Police in the state of Maine and the United Kingdom were alerted specifically about suspects in their jurisdictions and they were arrested.
Investigators remained elusive as to why they were of concern.
Law enforcement in the other jurisdictions are being notified through Interpol about the other 71 suspects.
Police said they’re concerned about the number of younger suspects identified as being involved in child pornography.
The Brampton man, who has not been identified, is charged with sexual assault and child pornography-related offences.
The suspects in Maine and in Kent, England, were arrested. The Englishman is a registered sex offender.
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Ontario police seek dozens of suspects in international child porn probe
Vancouver Sun
30 March 2010
By Steve Darley, National Post
Peel Regional Police investigators have identified 73 Internet child pornography suspects in 20 countries around the world. According to Insp. Robert Strain, of the force’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit, the investigation is dubbed Project Unity.
According to Insp. Robert Strain, of the force’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit, the investigation, dubbed Project Unity, has resulted in two arrests so far; one each in Maine and Kent in the United Kingdom, because of the nature of the threat, which “caused investigators immediate concern for the well-being of children.”
”Each of these potential accused is in possession of hundreds, thousands or millions of files which contain millions of photographs of victims worldwide,” Strain said.
The 71 remaining files are being transferred to local police agencies worldwide, including a further 10 in the U.S., seven more in the U.K., as well as 18 in Germany.
There is also one Canadian-based suspect, but police would not give further details regarding the location.
The investigation began in November 2009, when a 29-year-old Brampton, Ont., man was charged with various child porn and sexual assault offences. That case is now under a publication ban, as are the arrests made in Maine and the U.K.
Strain also said he expected the number of potential suspects could “rise dramatically” as individual law enforcement agencies begin their own investigations into the suspects uncovered by Peel Police.
Peel Region, west of Toronto, includes the communities of Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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Local connection to international child porn ring
CTV Edmonton
ctvedmonton.ca
30 March 2010
Local authorities are being credited with playing a major role in a massive world-wide child pornography investigation.
An Ontario man is now facing five charges related to sexual assault and child pornography and another 73 suspects in 20 countries around the world have been identified by Ontario authorities.
The investigation began with a tip from the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s integrated child exploitation unit (ICE).
Back in Nov. 2009, following an online investigation, an ICE unit investigator gathered evidence against a Brampton, Ontario area man suspected of possessing and making child pornography and provided it to police in Ontario who then obtained a search warrant and arrested the 29 year-old man.
“We know at any given time one of the cases can lead to countless suspects that are hurting children,” said Det. Randy Wickins, Edmonton-based ICE investigator. “They communicate on the Internet, they share this material with one another the Internet is a social thing — by finding one often times it leads to finding others.”
Just last week, a 27-year-old Calgary man was charged with 26 offences relating to child pornography and luring sex female victims following an investigation by southern Alberta’s ICE unit.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s integrated child exploitation unit regularly works with other police agencies across Canada and around the world to track down online predators and identify victims.
Close to 400 municipal police, RCMP and sheriffs work for the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams.