One suspect thought they’d arranged a meeting with a child to engage in sex acts, but they were really communicating online with undercover police officers.
One suspect thought they’d arranged a meeting with a child to engage in sex acts, but they really were communicating online with undercover police officers.
Another suspect was found to be in possession of child sexual abuse material when investigators searched through 21 terabytes of data, the equivalent of 50,000 hours of video, from seized electronic devices.
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These were just two cases among 64 people, several of them Southwestern Ontario residents, swept up in Project Aquatic, a provincewide crackdown on making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, Ontario Provincial Police announced on Wednesday.
Twenty-seven police forces – including London, Woodstock, Chatham-Kent, St. Thomas and Sarnia – assisted in 129 investigations between Feb. 19 and Feb. 29 that led to 348 charges, 34 victims identified, 30 children safeguarded and 607 electronic devices seized, police said.
“One of the most fundamental responsibilities of not only police, but as a society, is to protect our children from those who would do them harm,” OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said at a news conference.
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The head of the OPP internet child exploitation strategy said changes in technology – from electronic devices with more storage to encrypted communications and AI-generated images – have created challenges for investigations.
The earliest smartphones introduced in 2003 could store eight gigabytes, but today’s devices hold up to one terabyte, roughly 250,000 photos or 500 hours of video, Det.-Staff Sgt. Tim Brown said.
“For every device seized, an officer or analyst examines each photo and video, which can take several weeks. The time spent on each child sexual abuse investigation only grows with the continued increase of storage,” Brown said.
“With each passing year, the tools used by predators who wish to harm our children grow more sophisticated and harder to trace. From advanced encryption to the dark web, these factors add to the complexity of police investigations. With the advent of AI-generated images, our task to differentiate between real and synthetic victims adds yet another element to our efforts to apprehend those who make, possess, access and distribute child sexual abuse material.”
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Included among the 64 people facing child pornography-related offences are two London men, aged 40 and 52, a 33-year-old Chatham man, three Windsor men aged 23, 29 and 39, and a 16-year-old male from Windsor. All have been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court at later dates.
Signy Arnason, associate executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said police alone can’t end the abuse and exploitation of children online.
“Law enforcement, governments, online platforms, educators, parents and organizations like ours are critical in this fight, but more has to be done,” she said. “Through our work we have observed growing networks of adults with a problematic sexual interest in children. These online communities share child-sexual abuse material, encourage one another to share tactics . . . they normalize the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.”
Between 2,000 and 3,000 reports are filed monthly with cybertip.ca, a national tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children, said Arnason, whose non-profit operates the tip line.
“It is up to all of use to ensure the safety, dignity and rights of children are prioritized to ensure the kids are protected.”
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