More than 180 suspects arrested in 30 countries
Halifax Chronicle Herald
Wed, Mar 16 – 11:54 AM
By MIKE CORDER The Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Police said Wednesday they have smashed a huge international pedophile ring, rescuing 230 children from abuse and arresting 184 suspects — including teachers and police officers.
The three-year investigation codenamed Operation Rescue identified and safeguarded children in more than 30 countries by arresting people suspected of abusing them, said Rob Wainwright, director of the European Union police agency Europol.
The ring was centred on an Amsterdam-based online forum called boylover.net, which Wainwright described as “probably the largest online pedophile network in the world.”
The heavily encrypted forum, whose administrator appeared in a Dutch court on Tuesday charged with sex offences, had up to 70,000 members.
The investigation was led by Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre but also involved law enforcement agencies as far afield as Australia, the United States and Thailand.
Peter Davies of the British child protection centre said there would be more arrests as the investigations continue.
“Those who have been members of the site can expect a knock on the door in the very near future,” he said. In Britain, police said, the children involved were aged between 7 and 14.
Wainwright said the website was intended as a discussion forum where pedophiles could “share their sexual interest in young boys.”
However, after making initial contact on the forum, members would use email and other electronic channels to share images and video of children being abused, Wainwright said.
The majority of the 184 people arrested so far are suspected of direct involvement in sexually abusing children, They include teachers, police officers and scout leaders. One Spaniard who worked at summer youth camps is suspected of abusing some 100 children over five years.
After his arrest, the forum’s Dutch administrator helped police crack the complex web of encryption measures shielding users’ identities, allowing police to begin covert investigations that included posing as children online.
Australian Federal Police commander Grant Edwards said suspects arrested in Australia ranged in age from 19 to 84 and used the internet to “prey on children with anonymity, with subterfuge and with camouflage.”
Children, Edwards said. “should be able to use the Internet safely, without fear of being approached or groomed by these online predators.”
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Two Canadians arrested in global child-porn investigation
Toronto Globe and Mail
JULIAN SHER
Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2011 12:20PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2011 2:21PM EDT
Two Canadians were arrested as part of what police are calling the largest Internet child-abuse ring yet uncovered after a three-year operation that saw 184 arrests worldwide and the rescue of 230 children.
Operation Rescue targeted an online forum called “boylover.net,” based in the Netherlands but with a global clientele. At a news conference Wednesday morning in The Hague, police said the network spread to 30 countries with 70,000 members.
As part of the operation in Canada, Philip Publuske, 40, was arrested in Kitchener, Ont., late last year on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography.
“We were alerted in early November and he was arrested several days later,” said Olaf Heinzel of the Waterloo Police.
Mr. Publuske was remanded in custody and will next appear in court on March 28.
In Abernethy, southeast of Regina, the Saskatchewan Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) unit arrested a 69-year old man named David John Lapage on similar charges in November, 2009. At the time, they did not disclose his alleged connection to the global network.
“We kept back details in order not to potentially jeopardize investigations in other countries,” said Sergeant Patrick Nogier, ICE provincial co-ordinator.
Mr. Lapage, out on bail since his arrest, faces a preliminary hearing on May 18.
Led by the British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, the investigation began in 2007 and brought together teams from Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
Police say the website offered people the chance to discuss their sexual interest in young boys without committing any offences, but “below the radar” they used private channels to exchange “illegal images and films of children being abused.”
In Britain, police say the suspects range in age from 17 and 82, and include police officers, Boy Scout leaders and teachers.
“While these offenders felt anonymous in some way because they were using the Internet to communicate, the technology was actually being used against them,” said Peter Davies, the head of British child-exploitation unit. “Everything they did online was tracked by following the digital footprint.”
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Global child-abuse sting rescues 230 kids
Two arrests made in Canada
Grant Edwards of the Australian Federal Police (R), Peter Davis (C) of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, United Kingdom and Director of Europol Rob Wainwright outline details of arrests during “Operation Rescue” linked to a global child abuse network during a news conference in The Hague, March 16, 2011.
Photograph by: Jerry Lampen, Reuters
More than 200 victims of child abuse have been rescued, yielding hundreds of arrests and suspects, following an international police operation that took place in 13 countries, including Canada.
Europol, the police agency for the European Union, announced Wednesday that 230 children have been retrieved, while 184 arrests, including two in Canada, have been made around the world.
Nearly 700 suspects have been identified in the crackdown, dubbed Operation rescue.
On Wednesday, the RCMP confirmed that arrests were made by Saskatoon Police and Waterloo Regional Police in Ontario.
The police agency said the number of rescued children is expected to increase.
The three-year operation included the assistance of police agencies in 13 countries, including Canada, with more countries involved that still have investigations underway.
It was not immediately clear if any children had been rescued in Canada, nor if any Canadians had been arrested.
At the centre of the operation was a Dutch-based online forum that encouraged sexual contact between young boys and adults. At one point, the site had about 70,000 subscribers.
Other countries involved in the international effort were Australia, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Iceland, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
Canadian authorities, along with their counterparts in Italy, New Zealand and the U.S., began working on the matter between June 2008 and June 2009.