MERCURY RISING: International probe targets child sex predators
Horrific online sexual abuse of children as young as 10 months old — sometimes live-streamed to predators watching around the world — prompted a massive international investigation that led to the arrests of 153 men in 10 countries, including Canada.
Efforts by the Toronto Police, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which worked together for several years on Project Mercury with help from other law enforcement agencies, also led to the rescue of 17 sexually-abused children.
In recounting the details, Toronto Police Staff-Supt. Myron Demkiw cautioned the “disturbing” details might be “difficult to hear.”
“But it very important that we talk about it,” he said. “It’s important for people to understand that this is happening to children all over the world — that they are not only being sexually abused, there are also permanent recordings of this abuse being distributed by people around the globe for their sick perversion.”
Det.-Const. Janelle Blackadar explained that Toronto Police were contacted by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency after their 2014 discovery of a group of offenders who were involved in child sex abuse online, one of whom was a Toronto resident.
“The abuses were not only recorded and distributed, but often took place in live-streaming events where others could actively participate, encourage and direct the sexual abuse of these children,” she said.
Officers here began an undercover investigation that resulted in the arrest of Marc Leonard on related offences and police say the 41-year-old has since been convicted.
Blackadar said that arrest led police to others involved in the distribution of child abuse material and Project Mercury was launched as perpetrators in other Canadian provinces, across the U.S. and in Europe were identified.
Then in July 2015, she said, undercover officers in Toronto “observed the live abuse of a six-year-old child over the Internet.”
“The sexual abuse of this child occurred not only for the sexual gratification of the abuser himself, but also to satisfy the requests from those online who then actively encouraged the abuse while it was happening live,” Blackadar said. “Unfortunately, this was not the first time this had happened, but I can tell you it was the last.”
The abuser was identified in Pennsylvania and within hours, the child was rescued by U.S. authorities, she said, adding several participants were also identified in the U.S. and the U.K.
Toronto cops also uncovered the online sexual abuse of a drugged eight-year-old, which Blackadar said led to the arrest of Kenneth Bowman, 34, in Saskatoon, Sask., who has since been convicted of related offences.
She said the live-streaming of children being sexually abused is “on the rise” and putting a dent in the huge global problem is “a daunting task.”
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