Ontario Provincial Police have charged 64 people, including four from Windsor, in connection with a province-wide online child sexual abuse investigation.
Officers with the OPP-led Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet (Provincial ICE [Internet Child Exploitation] Strategy) took part in Project Aquatic, along with 27 police services across Ontario.
During a news conference Wednesday, police announced that the investigations began on February 19, and ended on February 29, with investigators identifying and arresting those making, possessing, and distributing child sexual abuse material.
In all, police say 34 victims were identified, 30 children were safeguarded, 64 people were charged, 348 charges were laid, and 607 electronic devices were seized.
The Windsor Police Service partnered with Chatham‐Kent Police to execute four search warrants in five locations across Windsor, Amherstburg, and Chatham as part of the investigation, seizing 23 electronic devices and making three arrests as part of the overall effort.
OPP Detective Staff Sergeant Tim Brown says with every device they analyze and every perpetrator they bring to justice, we are together disrupting the criminal activity impacting our children.
"In many cases, evidence of abuse is viewed online and viewed by countless others. In that way, the cycle of abuse for these children continues for years or even decades," he says.
A 23-year-old Windsor man is facing two counts each of possession of child pornography, making available child pornography, and accessing child pornography.
A 16-year-old Windsor male is facing two counts each of possession of child pornography and making available child pornography, and one count of accessing child pornography.
A 29-year-old Windsor male faces six counts each of possession of child pornography, making available child pornography, and accessing child pornography.
A 39-year-old Windsor man is facing three counts of possession of child pornography, along with two counts each of accessing child pornography, and distribution of child pornography.
Police also arrested a 33-year-old Chatham man, who's charged with possession of child pornography, making available child pornography, and accessing child pornography.
Detective Staff Sergeant Brown says parents need to stay alert when it comes to their child's online activity.
"Imagine how you would feel if a stranger approached your child in a park. This same level of gravity must be translated to the dangerous playgrounds where predators lurk under the cover of anonymity and false identities. These dangers are now confined to the dark corners of the internet. Predators go where children go," he says.
Brown says this needs to be a call to action.
"The fight against child exploitation requires more than just the efforts of law enforcement; it demands a societal pledge to safeguard our most vulnerable, our children," he says. "It calls for each of us to educate, to be aware, and to take action. Together, we can turn the tide against these heinous crimes."
Police noted that during the investigation, one individual set up a meeting with undercover investigators, intending to meet with a child in real life for a sexual purpose. Another individual was in possession of approximately 21 terabytes of data containing child sexual abuse material.
Members of the public are invited to learn about how to keep children safe at Canadian Centre for Child Protection or cybertip.ca.
Anyone with information regarding instances of child exploitation is asked to contact their local police. Report any instances of online child abuse to police or cybertip.ca. If a child is being harmed, call 9-1-1.