386 Kids Rescued in Worldwide Child Porn Bust
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) – Canadian Police revealed that the three-year long child pornography investigation, codenamed ’Project Spade’, has resulted in the rescue of 386 children and the arrest of 348 for involvement in child pornography.
Canadian authorities inform that ‘Project Spade’ has led to the apprehension of 108 in Canada, 76 in the USA, and 164 in other countries during the three year-long investigation.
Toronto Police Inspector Joanna Beavan-Desjardins revealed, that doctors, school teachers, foster care providers, as well as priests and other people who have regular and close interactions with children have been among those who were arrested in the child porn bust.
The Police Inspector said, that the focus of the investigation was the Toronto-based Azov Films company, which attracted attention because it reportedly sold DVS’s, featuring naked children, as well as streaming them over the Internet.
On Thursday, Police Inspector Joanna Beavan-Desjardins said, that the company has exported the movies to 94 countries, adding:
“It is alleged, that officers located hundreds of thousands of images and videos, detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children – some of the worst they have ever viewed”.
The owner of Azov Films, the 42 year-old Brian Way, was already arrested in May 2011. Way was charged with 11 offenses and Azov Films was shut down, after a police raid resulted in the discovery of 45 terabytes of child pornography on the company’s computers.
Brian Way is, among others, being accused of having instructed others to produce child pornography, and of building and maintaining a global production, sales and distribution network.
The police reports, that 386 children, around the world, whose locations could be identified, and who were identified as being at risk, have been rescued because of “Operation Spade”. The child victims were reportedly between five and twelve years of age.
The seizure of Azov Films’ computers in 2011, enabled Toronto Police, in cooperation with other national police forces and Interpol, to identify customers, who were ordering Azov Films’ child porn products. Toronto Police informs that many of the customers were located in the USA, others were located in Australia, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Norway, Greece and Ireland.
During searches of the homes of Azov Films’ customers, police seized additional quantities of child porn. At the home of one of the customers alone, police seized 350.000 photos and 9.000 videos, featuring child porn and child abuse. One of those arrested during the global busts was one former school teacher, who was in possession of child pornography, featuring children which he knew personally.
One employee at a public school in Georgia, USA placed a hidden camera in the school’s bathrooms and recorded the school children. One US school teacher pleaded guilty to making child porn while he was teaching in Japan.
Operating Spade uncovered only the Tip of an Iceberg.
The Candian – led, global police operation uncovered only the tip of an iceberg of child pornography and commercialized sexual child abuse. The underground industry thrives, because there is a global demand and a colossal customer potential.
A Dutch human rights organization opened a YouTube account, pretending to be 10-year-old Philippine girls. The group used a computer animated, virtual girl “Sweety” as bait.
Jaap van Santbrink, a member of the group behind Sweety, reports that more than 20.000 sexual predators from 71 countries asked Sweety for sexual services, without the virtual girl soliciting any sexual behaviors. The group gave the information about the pedophiles to the appropriate Police authorities.
Besides child porn and child sexual abuse via the internet, it is believed that millions of children, worldwide, fall pray to child prostitution, fueled by child sex tourism.
Fueled by the growing, rather than a diminishing socioeconomic imbalance between nations, and ardent poverty in so-called “developing” countries, which are easy targets for globalized capitalism, there is a thriving child sex tourism in countries like, among others, Cambodia.
The fact that many of the child porn predators which were caught in Operation Spade were adults who have entrusted positions and have daily, professional contact with children, does not come as a surprise to experts. Especially the catholic church and other religious communities are plagued by child sex abuse.
In an article about a recent Australian child sex inquiry revealed, Olivia Monaghan writes:
Twelve months ago, I wrote an article encouraging inquiries into child sex abuse to treat the church like a corrupt police force. Today, the first of the nation’s inquiries to child sex abuse, run by the Victorian government’s Family and Community Development Committee, released its recommendations, and they have done just that.
Monaghan concludes, Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, recently stated that the public should “judge us on our actions”. It is time for the Victorian government to be judged in the same way.
As encouraging as Operation Spade was, and as important as the rescue of 386 children is, there are literally millions of children worldwide, who are being sexually abused, in some cases murdered, in others injured, and in all cases injured psychologically, often for life.
Ch/L – nsnbc - Partner media with Aydınlık Daily