|
Post by watchdog on Jan 16, 2008 11:10:00 GMT -5
School Social Worker From Brampton Among Those Arrested In Global Child Porn Bust Tuesday January 15, 2008 CityNews.ca Staff www.citynews.ca/news/news_18580.aspxHis name is Norman Blain and he's worn many hats in his life - Scout Master, Big Brother and social worker for the Peel District School Board. But Canadian authorities now allege he's also been involved in something else. The 45-year-old Brampton man is one of nine Canadians charged in an international child porn ring. The case first surfaced in Europe last November with the arrest of more than 90 suspects on that side of the pond. Canadian authorities were involved but weren't ready to make their own revelations about the suspects until Tuesday. Blain was arrested last week and is facing one count of possessing child pornography. Cops allege the ring provided made-to-order videos featuring disturbing sexual abuse of young children for pedophiles. As many as 100 Canadian e-mail addresses were used to track down the accused and authorities warn there could be more arrests as their probe continues. Others under the microscope here include an Edmonton man who was allegedly found with the movies in his possession and a Victoria resident police say had a telescope that was pointed toward a local schoolyard. Police allege an Italian man, Marzolo Sergio, is the videographer at the centre of the ring. They contend he made videos in the Ukraine, Belgium and the Netherlands. What officials saw on those tapes turned the stomach of even the most hardened investigators. "Children age 9 and 11 are being raped, performing oral sex on each other and demonstrating such sexualized behaviour, it is apparent that the abuse has been ongoing for a long time," relates RCMP Supt. Earla-Kim McColl. Blain counselled students at Centennial and Ridgeview Elementary Schools and was also present at Mayfield High in Caledon. There are no allegations that he approached any of them, but parents who heard of the arrest are horrified that someone accused of such a terrible crime may have had contact with their kids. "At this school? Oh, God!" one horrified mother named Elena exclaims. "Our kids are not safe anywhere. I can't believe that." Police have some advice for parents at the four schools named. "I would suggest that they ask their children sensitive questions and make sure that their children are not victims," warns P.C. Wayne Patterson of Peel Regional Police. "And if they don't like the answers they get, I would suggest that they contact the investigators." Big Brothers confirm Blain was directly involved with children through the organization in the late '80s in southwestern Ontario. There was no answer at his townhouse Tuesday, and there's no current information about where he is. But he's not in jail. He was released on bail last week and will be back in court on January 24th. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
Post by watchdog on Jan 17, 2008 17:25:12 GMT -5
Nine Canadians arrested in int'l child porn probe
[Updated Tue. Jan. 15 2008 6:26 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Nine Canadians have been arrested as part of an international child pornography ring that provided "custom-made" sex abuse videos, authorities said Tuesday.
About 90 other Canadians are being investigated in the same international probe.
Among those arrested are a scout leader from Ontario and an Edmonton resident who had a large cache of child pornography.
Details of the international probe "Operation Koala" were released at a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday morning.
Europol, who is heading the investigation, contacted Canadian authorities in 2007 to let them know they found about 600 Internet addresses linked to Canada.
Canadian authorities narrowed the list down to 98 individuals.
"The evidence indicates that those in possession of this material did not find it accidentally," said RCMP Supt. Earla Kim McColl in charge of Canada's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
"They sought it out. They previewed the samples. They paid in advance and they waited for a password to download the videos," she said.
Not all Canadian customers have been identified, a Canadian official said, but the investigation is continuing.
In Canada, 18 law agencies, seven provinces, and 40 cities and municipalities were involved in the investigation.
"I would say that there will be more arrests," McColl said.
"The majority of investigations are still ongoing and there are a number of identified individuals that will be contacted by their local police very shortly."
In Ontario, four people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, according to Ontario Provincial Police Insp. Andy Stewart.
The most recent arrest was made in Ontario's Peel region where a suspect was charged two weeks ago.
The suspect works in the community as a Big Brother to local children.
However, there are no accusations the suspect had any inappropriate relations with children.
He and three other suspects in Ontario have been charged with accessing and possessing child pornography. It was not immediately known if the other suspects worked with children as well.
According to a Europol news release issued in November, customers of the site had the option of interacting with the children that appeared on camera. They could buy them lingerie to wear or have them say the customer's name. A customer could also opt to be in the video.
At the news conference Tuesday, European officials said one customer paid extra to have the child call him on the phone during the photo shoot.
Europol also alleged the lingerie the young girls were wearing were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
"We are not aware of any Ontario suspect involved in that capacity," Stewart told CTV.ca Tuesday morning before the news conference.
Stewart, the manager of the child pornography section of the OPP, said he doesn't expect to make any other arrests in Ontario regarding the case. However, he said there are still several addresses that have come up that are under investigation.
He also said Canadian officials didn't take part in the earlier news conference because they were still investigating the role Canadians played in the international probe.
"Most of the cases are tied up now," he said.
Operation Koala
According to Europol, most of the material was produced in Ukraine in a private studio. Others were produced in Belgium and the Netherlands
Europol officials were tipped off to the production ring after coming across a child abuse video in Australia. Their investigation led them to an Italian national whom authorities allege is the sole producer of the offensive material.
Police allege the 42-year-old man sold over 150 self-made videos of underage girls. One video showed a father abusing his two daughters, aged nine and 11.
The website reportedly had 2,500 customers from 19 countries.
So far, 23 child victims between the ages of nine and 16 have been identified.
"Among those arrested were several persons working in trusted positions, such as school teachers and swimming instructors," the Europol news release said.
"Thousands of computers, videos and photographs were seized," it continued to say. "In a large number of cases, more than a million files and pictures were found."
Canada's Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day released a statement saying the country remains committed to fighting child abuse and exploitation.
"We will continue to work with our domestic and international partners to address this terrible crime," he said in the statement. "In Budget 2007, we invested $6 million to help protect children from online predators and to combat human trafficking.
"We will continue to extend our full support to Operation Koala and other similar investigations that help bring those who sexually abuse children to justice."
|
|