Canada Fails To Make Arrests In Porn Sweep
Police forces in 19 countries arrest 130 people
By Odile Nelson
Originally published in The National Post, November 29, 2001
A global crackdown on child pornography on the Internet has failed to result in the arrest of any Canadians who were alleged to be part of an international group of pedophiles.
Yesterday, police in 19 countries arrested 130 people following a 10-month investigation into the distribution of child pornography.
Operation Landmark was headed by Britain's National Crime Squad, which said the raids were the largest bust of online child pornography.
Police allege 10,000 people accessed more than 30 sites carrying child pornography in a two-week period. More than 100,000 new images of such material were discovered during the raids.
Although the RCMP acknowledged the British crime squad and Interpol had requested Canada's assistance, no Canadians were arrested.
"No charges have been laid," Corporal Benoit Desjardins, spokesman for the RCMP in Ottawa, said yesterday.
Detective Sergeant Frank Goldschmidt of the Ontario RCMP's Project Protection said there were at least two intended arrests in Ontario, based on information that was sent to the detachment from Interpol.
"But we found there wasn't enough information to act on at this point in time. There were no warrants executed," Det.-Sgt. Goldschmidt said.
He said Project Protection, the section of the Ontario RCMP that investigates child pornography, had received insufficient information from Interpol two weeks ago.
"People from overseas, they just send us something and think we can get in the front door, but we can't," he said. "What's required in one country to get someone is different from what another requires." Although Det.-Sgt. Goldschmidt admitted frustration, he said the information sent by Interpol may be used in future investigations.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Mark Erik Hecht, senior legal council for Beyond Borders, a child advocacy group.
Yesterday's events, he said, mirror the conclusion of a similar international crackdown on child pornography two years ago.
Canadian RCMP were enlisted by U.K. law enforcement and Interpol to disband an Internet child pornography ring known as the Wonderland Club.
Canada backed out at the last minute and 16 Canadian members of the ring, responsible for at least 160,000 new pornographic images, went free.
Mr. Hecht said Canada's track record on fighting child pornography is terrible and will be criticized at the second world congress on the commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in December.
"We're going to have to account for our actions for the five years since the last world conference. The eyes of the world will be on Canada to witness how little we have done to protect our children," he said.
