3 arrested on P.E.I. in connected with national child porn investigation

The Prince Edward Island arm of a national operation to fight child pornography has led to charges against three people. 

Two men aged 60 and 24 are charged with possession of child pornography and transmitting child pornography, while a youth is facing charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, according to an RCMP news release Wednesday. 

"This is certainly a computer-driven offence," Cpl. Gavin Moore, the force's spokesperson on P.E.I., said in an interview. "These are crimes that do occur online. Individuals who partake in these crimes trade amongst each other....

"Ultimately it means victims of these crimes can have images shared to a number of individuals around the world."

Search warrants executed on P.E.I. led to the three suspects being charged. They are all scheduled to appear in court on different days in April, with the 60-year-old man appearing in Summerside provincial and the other two in Charlottetown. 

"Our priority is protecting children from online predators who exploit digital platforms to commit devastating crimes," Cpl. Robert Yaschuk of the P.E.I. RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit was quoted as saying in the news release. "Every case we investigate is a step toward ensuring that offenders are brought to justice."

The national operation code-named Project STEEL was led by the Ontario and Quebec provincial police forces and the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre. 

The news release said it grew to involve 63 police agencies across Canada, with action taken from Feb. 17 to 28. 

"To date, 106 individuals have been arrested and 37 children have been safeguarded," a March 5 news release about the national operation said, adding that a total of 1,132 electronic devices were seized.

"These are real people. These are people who are victims," Moore said. "These are people who are deeply affected for the rest of their lives about what has happened."