A Greater Sudbury man is among 64 people charged in a massive, provincewide child exploitation sting involving 27 separate police services.
Led by the Ontario Provincial Police’s Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet (a.k.a. Provincial ICE [Internet Child Exploitation] Strategy), the investigation involving 27 separate police services ran from Feb. 19 to Feb. 29. The goal for investigators was to identify and arrest people making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Dubbed “Project Aquatic”, the investigation led to:
- 34 victims identified;
- 30 children safeguarded;
- 64 people charged;
- 348 charges laid, and;
- 607 electronic devices seized.
The most recent investigation and investigations going back to 2006 show the scale and scope of the issue of child sexual abuse material the OPP said in a news release.
Project Aquatic involved 129 separate investigations. OPP said 8,638 other investigations were completed in 2023 alone. Between 2006 and 2023, the ICE Strategy among 27 police services completed 82,082 investigations into child sexual abuse, laying 29,025 charges against 7,493 people.
“These completed investigations demonstrate the scope of the issue regarding child sexual abuse material, which remains a pervasive safety issue that is often unseen by many members of the public,” OPP said.
The release said during the Project Aquatic investigation, police allege one person charged was in possession of around 21 terabytes of data containing child sexual abuse material.
Of the 64 people charged in Project Aquatic, seven are from Northern Ontario.
One of those people is a 27-year-old man from Greater Sudbury who is charged with one count of agreeing or making arrangements to commit a sexual offence against a child, and one count of making child pornography. He was released with a May 22 court date in Sudbury.
A 54-year-old man from Coleman Township (the Latchford and Cobalt area) is charged with two counts of agreeing or making arrangements to commit a sexual offence against a child and one count of making child pornography.
A 28-year-old man from Thunder Bay is charged with making available child pornography, three counts of failing to comply with a release order and failing to comply with probation.
An 18-year-old from Thunder Bay is charged with three counts of luring a person under 16 and three counts of making available sexually explicit material.
A 27-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie is charged with possession of child pornography, five counts of making available child pornography and one count of luring a person under 16.
A 38-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography.
A 32-year-old man from Powassan is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of making child pornography.
The OPP said the police services involved in the investigation “urge all parties to remain vigilant and to intensify their involvement to further strengthen the collective effort to protect children from victimization. Members of the public are invited to learn about how to keep children safe at Canadian Centre for Child Protection or Cybertip.ca.”
Anyone with information regarding instances of child exploitation is asked to contact their local police. Report any instances of online child abuse to police or Cybertip.ca. If a child is being harmed, call 9-1-1.
