Toronto police say they have broken up a massive child sex abuse ring after a three-year investigation.
At a news conference Thursday, police said the investigation, dubbed ‘Project Spade,’ has resulted in 348 people being arrested worldwide.
At least 386 children, including 24 in Canada, have also been rescued from abusive situations as a result of the investigation, police said.
“It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images and videos detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children,” Insp. Joanna Beaven-Desjardins told reporters at a news conference Thursday morning.
She said the investigation, which included dozens of police forces in Canada, the Unites States and around the world, began in 2010 when undercover officers made contact with a Toronto man alleged to be sharing child pornography.
Through that contact, police discovered that customers were allegedly buying illicit films online and by mail through a Toronto-based website, www.azovfilms.com.
A joint investigation with the U.S. Postal Inspection Agency led police to raid the Etobicoke business alleged to be behind the site, as well as a residence in May 2011. In those raids, police recovered 45 terabytes of data, including hundreds of thousands of images depicting acts of sexual abuse against children.
Police allege the owner the Toronto business commissioned child pornographic films in Ukraine and Romania and then sold the films by mail and through his website to clients around the world.
The company had collected revenues in excess of $4 million, police said.
Hundreds of children rescued
Police said Thursday the films commissioned from eastern Europe were made in people’s apartments, in dingy saunas and in back yards with closed-in fences.
The alleged pornographic images include depictions of children as young as five years of age, police said.
Not all those children rescued necessarily appeared in the films sold through Azov Films, police said. Some were discovered by association when police went through other materials collected by those who allegedly purchased films from Azov.
Hundreds arrested
Police said Thursday the list of people arrested includes health workers, legal professionals and youth volunteers. The list includes 50 in Ontario, 58 in the rest of Canada, 76 in the U.S., and 164 in other countries.
The owner of Azov Films was arrested in 2011 and is currently in police custody.
Brian Way, 42, of Toronto, is facing a slew of charges, including distributing child pornography, laundering the proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal organization.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and that further arrests are expected.
