An Alberta man is facing five child pornography related offences thanks to the involvement of Chatham-Kent police in a sweeping investigation dubbed Project Aquatic.
Led by the Ontario Provincial Police, Project Aquatic saw a total of 27 Ontario police services participate in the far-reaching probe. Spearheaded by OPP Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet, Project Aquatic involved multiple child sexual abuse investigations.
In the months leading up to the operation, each police service developed its own investigation in response to reports made through cybertip.ca and file sharing. Each service executed warrants during the recent takedown, resulting in 348 charges against 64 people.
Over a 10-day period ending Feb. 29, investigators identified and arrested those making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. The victims who were identified were provided victim support, and impacted children were safeguarded.
Along with the charges against the 60-year-old Albertan, Chatham-Kent police laid an additional 21 charges in partnership with the Windsor Police Service. Four search warrants in five locations in Chatham, Windsor and Amherstburg led to the seizure of 23 electronic devices.
Ten of the related charges were laid by C-K police and 11 were laid by Windsor police.
All told, Project Aquatic identified 34 victims; 30 children were safeguarded and 607 electronic devices were seized. In addition, 82,082 investigations were completed between 2006 and 2023 by the provincial strategy. Within that period, 29,025 charges were laid against 7,493 people.
Anyone with information regarding instances of child exploitation is asked to contact their local police. Report any instances of online child abuse to police or cyberip.ca. If a child is being harmed, call 911.
Members of the public are invited to learn about how to keep children safe at Canadian Centre for Child Protection or cybertip.ca.
The individuals arrested and charged were held for bail hearings and later released with future court dates.
