Joint Ontario Police Task Force Arrests 107 People, Lays 428 Child Exploitation Charges in One Month

A total of 27 police services took part in a provincial strategy to protect children from sexual abuse and online exploitation. (OPP Handout)

Toronto Police have announced that “Project Maverick,” a province-wide collaboration to locate and charge individuals associated with online child exploitation, led to a total of 428 charges being laid against 107 people in the month of October alone.

Police have released a full list of those arrested and charged so far. Many have already been in the news from coverage at the time of their arrest.

Some of those arrested by Toronto police were repeat offenders. The accused range in age from 18 to 86 years old. The identified victims range from infants to adults.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Detective Inspector Jordan Whitesell of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said some of the children “are too young to even speak.”

‘Staggering’

Whitesell said the number of those arrested and charges laid in October were “staggering.” Some suspects are being held in custody, while others have been released pending their trial date. Some suspects will make their first appearance in court in December.

Across Ontario, 27 policing partners, two provincial ministries, the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security, plus additional community partners involved in Project Maverick conducted 277 investigations, served 168 search warrants, and seized 1,032 digital devices.

Sixty-one victims were identified and referred to community services for help, and an additional 60 children deemed at risk of exploitation were safeguarded, with 175 investigations still underway. “That’s 121 families affected by these reprehensible crimes,” said Inspector Dave Mason of the Durham Regional Police Service.

Toronto Police Sergeant Barb Adam said that “safeguarding” refers to protecting children at “increased risk of exploitation,” citing the example of a parent who has been “charged with possessing child pornography but there is no evidence that they harmed their own child.”

The sergeant said the children are not necessarily removed from their homes but receive support from social and community services.

‘Horrific’

Toronto Police identified 22 child victims and said they were able to safeguard 10 other children at risk of exploitation.

Adam said the Toronto ICE unit conducted 24 criminal code search warrants over 20 days, seized 131 devices containing child sexual abuse and exploitation, and arrested 23 people.

During October alone, 96 criminal code charges were laid for possession, accessing, importing, distribution, and the making of child pornography. There were also charges laid for luring a person under 16, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference, sexual assault, and failing to comply with a court order.

During the 30-day sting, investigators seized 131 devices. Adam said they contained “horrific images and videos of child sexual abuse material which now must be forensically examined.”

Adam said in one instance, Toronto Police, with the help of international partners, “identified a person of interest on the dark web who was planning on kidnapping and abusing young children.” Police from Toronto and the OPP were able to identify the accused and his location in a remote Northern Ontario village and showed up with two search warrants.

A suspect was arrested and Adam said an investigation is ongoing.

Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said Project Maverick has helped his police force rescue abused children and prevent future abuse.

“This investigation has resulted in the seizure of over 1,000 electronic devices utilized to commit these crimes. Investigations where we analyze evidence of child sexual abuse or luring are highly complex. Every image seized represents a child’s life endangered by someone at the other end of a computer screen,” said Milinovich.