64 Arrested, Hundreds of Charges Laid in Ontario Child Sexual Abuse Investigation

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique speaks at a May 8 press conference in Scarborough, Ont. to announce 348 charges have been laid in a province-wide investigation into the distribution of child pornography. OPP Detective Staff Sergeant Tim Brown and Canadian Centre for Child Protection associate executive director Signy Arnason, pictured on the right, also spoke to reporters. OPP handout photo

Sixty-four people have been arrested and 348 charges have been laid in a province-wide investigation into the distribution of child sexual abuse material, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has announced.

Known as Project Aquatic, the case involved 129 separate investigations from 27 police services across the province, the OPP said during a May 8 news conference in Scarborough. The investigation began Feb. 19 into the sexual exploitation of 34 child victims and ended Feb. 29 with the arrest of 64 people connected to the making, possession and distribution of “child sexual abuse material.”