CHARMAINE NORONHA
Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Thursday that they have rescued five children who were depicted in online porn and have charged or investigated 150 people in a nationwide crackdown on child porn.
Saskatoon police Detective Sgt. Darren Parisien said the operation targeted sex offenders who traffic in child porn. Police seized hundreds of computers and hard drives along with nearly 2 million images or videos.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Mike Petrilli said some of the images and videos collected involved infants.
“The images show children who are clearly being sexually assaulted and they show infants and toddlers,” Petrilli said during a press conference.
“It’s not just sharing of child pornography, there is some physical abuse,” he said.
Petrilli said 343 criminal charges have been filed so far, ranging from sexual assault to the possession and distribution of child pornography.
Police would not reveal the ages of the children who were rescued but said they were prepubescent and were victims of sexual assault and physical abuse. Two of the children were from British Columbia, one was from Ontario, one from Quebec and one from New Brunswick.
The investigation follows two similar operations over the past two years.
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