80 arrested in province-wide child pornography sweep
Three Oshawa residents among those facing charges
Three Oshawa residents were among the 80 people charged in a province-wide child pornography sweep. Arrests were made after computers labelled as potential download candidates were monitored over a 90-day period.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Three Oshawa residents were among those arrested and charged in a province-wide child exploitation and pornography investigation.
The operation, which was headed by the Ontario Provincial Police and included local police forces from across the province, saw 80 people charged with 274 offences, including sexual assault, making child pornography, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.
Along with the three Oshawa arrests, there were also two arrests in Ajax and one in Whitby.
“We’re constantly scanning the landscape and prioritizing investigations based on the crimes that we see. As a result of that, the partners within the strategy engaged in a 90-day project whereby the results were seen today,” Chief Superintendent Don Bell of the OPP tells The Oshawa Express.
According to a news release announcing the arrests, officers monitored IP addresses – unique numerical codes tied to an individual computer – that were labeled as candidates for downloading child pornography over the 90-day period.
While Bell admits this just puts a dent into fighting child pornography, the operation was able to save the lives of some of its victims.
“We saved them from going through the tragedy of revictimization and having their life basically ruined by this type of criminality,” Bell says.
“We also identified nine young women that were taken into the human trafficking arena, and saved them from those types of activities.”
While this string of major arrests is a plus for the fight against child pornography, Bell says that more needs to be done.
“It’s very important that people realize that the police can’t arrest themselves out of this problem,” he says.
“We all have to take ownership of this problem. Parents, particularly, be aware of what your kids are doing. Be aware of what they’re looking at, what they’re signing into on the Internet, know their passwords. Just don’t take them for granted.”
That sentiment was shared by Det. Sgt. Kevin Morash of Durham police’s Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Unit.
“It’s always great to make these types of arrests and put a dent in this type of crime. It’s unfortunate there’s people out there accessing child pornography and possessing it and distributing it,” he says.
“It’s out there, so we’re doing our part…to combat this type of crime to the best of our ability.”
One 39-year-old Oshawa resident was charged with luring a person under 16 and both a 53-year-old and a 67-year-old resident were charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography in connection with this operation.
Morash says the names of those arrested in Durham Region were not released as they had already been to court and thus had a publication ban placed on the proceedings before the arrests were announced by the OPP.