'FROM TEENAGERS TO SENIOR CITIZENS': 64 people across Ontario charged in OPP-led investigation into alleged online child sexual abuse, exploitation

A 10-day investigation into alleged online child sexual abuse and exploitation “spanned nearly every corner of our province” and identified 34 victims, culminating in 64 arrests and nearly 350 charges, says the provincial police force.

In a May 8 announcement, Ontario Provincial Police called the results of Project Aquarius “staggering” after investigators from 27 police forces across Ontario, led by the OPP, carried out a total of 129 investigations between Feb. 19 and 29. As part of the effort, investigators focused on identifying and arresting those individuals suspected of making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

“We are working tirelessly to continue to apply pressure to those who seek to harm our children,” said OPP Detective Staff Sergeant Tim Brown, leader of the Provincial internet Child Exploitation Strategy.

The bulk of the Project Aquarius investigations were “reactive” to complaints forwarded to police services by different electronic service providers, such as online social media platforms, explained Brown.

The 64 accused range in age from a 16-year-old Windsor boy to an 89-year-old Toronto man.

“From teenagers to senior citizens,” said Brown. “That’s kind of what we see as a trend with many of the child sexual abuse investigations. It doesn’t really matter who you are or where you come from. We find offenders across the province, every walk of life, every age.”

Some of the accused were released for previous alleged offences and were out on bail, he added.

While declining to offer specifics, Brown said the alleged victims range from infants to those in their late teens.

“Just like the age of the offenders, there’s a wide spectrum of the age of the victims as well,” he said.

Other than the 34 victims who were identified, the OPP said investigators “safeguarded” 30 other children by removing them from “dangerous” situations.

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique cited a statistic from www.cybertip.ca that says more than 77 per cent of Canadian children between the ages of nine and 17 have access to a smartphone.

“This connectivity, while beneficial in many ways, also increases the exposure of our youth to potential threats and online predators,” he said.

Det. Staff Sgt. Brown stressed that “these digital playgrounds where predators lurk under the cover of anonymity and fake identities … are not confined to the shadowy corners of the internet. Predators go where children go.”

He added that education, awareness and strong enforcement action are “the foundations for combatting child sexual exploitation on the internet.”

“Parents need to understand what their kids are doing online,” continued Brown. “One of the golden rules of engaging online is if you do not know that person 100-per cent, then you do not know who that person is. They could be hiding behind any name, any age, any picture.”

In total, police across the province laid 348 charges as part of Project Aquarius and seized 607 electronic devices.

Among the accused, including three women, are residents of Guelph, London, Greater Sudbury, Collingwood, Kitchener, Cambridge, Fergus, Chatham, Coleman Township and Oakville. Other accused reside in Burlington, Milton, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Windsor, Newmarket, Toronto, Vaughan, Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, St. Catharines and Beamsville. Police also charged residents of Oro Medonte, Simcoe, Corunna, Sault Ste. Marie, Richmond Hill, Oshawa, Brampton, Smiths Falls, Wasaga Beach, Powassan, Peterborough and Kingston.

Most of the charges are for possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography, making available child pornography, making child pornography and distribution of child pornography. Others were charged with voyeurism under 16, voyeurism over 16, luring as person under 16, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference, exposure, extortion and secretly observe/record person for sexual purpose. One accused, a 37-yer-old Kingston man, was charged with bestiality.

Between 2006 and 2023, the provincial task force of 27 police agencies completed 82,082 investigations into alleged child sex crimes, laying 29,025 charges against 7,493 people.