Child exploitation probe nets 57 arrests

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CBC News
08 December 2010
By CBC News
  
Police have filed more than 200 charges and arrested 57 men in Canada and overseas in connection with a child sexual exploitation investigation.
   

Police have filed more than 200 charges and arrested 57 men in Canada and overseas after infiltrating a child pornography network.

Twenty-five of those men are Canadian and together face a total of 131 charges, Toronto police Det. Paul Krawczyk said at a news conference Wednesday.

The men come from all over Canada, including Vancouver and Conception Bay South, N.L. Seven of those arrested are from Toronto, Krawczyk said.

The man from Conception Bay South is 51-year-old Robin Barrett, a former Anglican priest who pleaded guilty in September to owning and distributing pornography featuring children as young as six months. He will serve 2½ years in prison.

Krawczyk said several other men arrested as part of the investigation have also been convicted of child pornography and sexual abuse offences. They range in age from 20-68 years.

The arrests are part of a joint investigation conducted by a number of law enforcement agencies, including Toronto police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and German police. All the men arrested were part of the same network.

Krawczyk said authorities were able to save 25 boys and girls from sexual abuse, 12 of whom are from Canada. The ages of the children who were rescued range from four to 15 years.

The investigation began after someone was arrested in Canada in November 2009, Krawczyk said.

“Being careful, because it is very sensitive information, we discovered a person online trading child abuse images and videos,” said Krawczyk.

“When we made contact with that person, we sent the information to the local Canadian law enforcement agency, they made the arrest. It was information gathered during arrest and after that arrest that allowed us to infiltrate this network.”

Police are not seeking any more individuals in connection with their 14-month investigation, dubbed Project Sanctuary.

But Toronto police’s child exploitation unit is constantly looking for more victims and conducting more searches.

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