In a sweeping worldwide operation codenamed Project Spade, law enforcement authorities in Canada arrested at least 348 people and rescued 400 children during the three-year investigation into child pornography. The inquiry concerned suspicions over the activities of Toronto-based Azov Films which marketed the footage it made as “naturist” with the claim that it was legal both in Canada and the US.
According to the authorities Avoz films engaged in selling DVDs and streaming videos containing footages of naked children and the footages have been distributed in at least 94 countries.
Out of the 348 arrests, 108 were made in Canada, 76 in US and 164 in other countries of the world.
Inspector Joanna Beavan-Desjardins of the Toronto police shared the particularly distressing fact to the media that those arrested included people like foster caregivers, doctors, priests, school teachers and people generally held by the society in trust and esteem due to the nature of their work.
The operation was successful with the help of US investigators and authorities in all other countries cooperating with the Canadian law enforcement.
Other countries involved in the operation include Australia, Spain, Mexico, South Africa, Norway, Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
The Canadian police told the media, “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 ever viewed.”
According to the law enforcement a search executed with warrant at the home of a retired school teacher alone yielded 350,000 images and 9,000 videos depicting child abuse. Some of the victims were known to the schoolteacher who was also charged with sexually abusing a child relative.
Acting Deputy Chief Inspector of the US Postal Inspection Service, Gerald O’Farrell said all victims identified so far are yet to reach the age of puberty and some are as young as five years of age.
In one of the cases, an employee in a school in Georgia had hidden a video camera in the toilets used by schoolchildren. Another pre-school teacher admitted to producing child pornography while teaching in Japan.
US postal inspectors have identified and rescued at least 330 child victims within the country. Canadian law enforcement also admitted that cybertip.ca, a website which allows online reporting of sexual exploitation of children, having played a significant role in exposing Avoz Films.