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122 charges laid in porn bust – Metro US

122 charges laid in porn bust

 

A co-ordinated investigation into child pornography in Ontario resulted in charges against 35 people across the province, police announced yesterday.

Two child victims, one in the province, the other outside Canada, were “rescued,” police said, although they refused to provide details.

“This is a crime that, to me, is one of the most heinous one human being can commit against another,” said Ontario Police commissioner Julian Fantino.

“(Police) will stop at nothing to hunt down child predators.”

The charges follow weeks of legwork involving 18 police services that are part of a provincewide initiative to combat child pornography.

In all, 44 search warrants were executed, leading to 122 child pornography and other charges.

Police said the individuals charged were not part of any ring.

As representatives from more than a dozen police services across the province looked on, Fantino decried a justice system he said was too soft on child pornographers.

In particular, he lashed out at the maximum 10-year sentence.

“You can’t in good conscience call that adequate punishment for such a brutal crime,” Fantino said.

Kid’s Internet Safety Alliance, an organization that helps child victims of abuse, applauded the bust.

At the same time, the group called the arrests “a drop in the bucket” of child pornography.

“The traffic in images of abuse is an international problem involving over a million pictures of more than 50,000 different children from around the world,” the alliance said in a statement.

“Only about 1,300 of these children have been rescued.”

Police said those charged were arrested in recent days, with two arrests still to come.

One accused had more than six million images stored on his computer.