Man suspected of abusing child over Web

onlinemom · 05-22-2008, 07:15 AM

Ontario Provincial Police officers arrested a Listowel man hours after he was suspected of attempting to abuse a young child in real time over the Internet.

The investigation, which took place on Tuesday, involved an undercover police officer from the London Police Service who engaged the accused in an online chat room. Without any prompting, the accused offered to expose a young girl for sexual purposes in front of a Web camera.

Eventually apprehended at his workplace, the suspect faces one count of transmitting child pornography.

"There is a good likelihood other charges will be pending," said OPP Detective Sergeant Terry Paddon of the Child Sexual Exploitation Section, which helped spearhead the effort. Two computer systems and the Web camera have been seized, he added, but they have not been fully scrutinized.

The nature of the crime and eventual arrest is reminiscent of another case in Southwest Ontario, which drew international notoriety in 2006 and also involved the OPP's Child Sexual Exploitation section.

A 35-year-old father from nearby St. Thomas was apprehended less than two hours after he exposed his four-year-old daughter to a Web camera, unaware that his correspondent was an undercover Toronto policeman. A subsequent search on his computer yielded about 3,500 images of child pornography. The crime attracted attention because a father generating and distributing images of his child in real time was, by most estimates, legally unprecedented.

Last December, the culprit was sentenced to four years in prison, a term that drew outrage from experts, insisting that Canada does not respect the damage done to victims.

"We have some of the best laws in the world," said Paul Gillespie, chief executive of the Kids' Internet Safety Alliance. "But judges in these cases seem to reluctant to mete out sentences that satisfy the public."

Employing techniques similar to those used against the St. Thomas father, police obtained the identity and address of the accused from his Internet service provider.

Warrant in hand, they entered a house in Listowel, a community about 50 kilo-metres north of Waterloo.

In conjunction with the OPP's Perth Detachment, the Cyber Crimes Unit was able to rescue the child, but discovered that the alleged abuser had already left for work, where they tracked him down and arrested him -- all within three hours from the time of the abuse.

The accused, whose identity is not being released in order to protect the identity of the victim of child sex abuse, was held for a bail hearing yesterday in Stratford. He has been remanded there until tomorrow.

By:Craig Offman, National Post
For the original story go to: Man suspected of abusing child over Web

05-22-2008, 07:15 AM	#1
onlinemom Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 60	Man suspected of abusing child over Web Ontario Provincial Police officers arrested a Listowel man hours after he was suspected of attempting to abuse a young child in real time over the Internet. The investigation, which took place on Tuesday, involved an undercover police officer from the London Police Service who engaged the accused in an online chat room. Without any prompting, the accused offered to expose a young girl for sexual purposes in front of a Web camera. Eventually apprehended at his workplace, the suspect faces one count of transmitting child pornography. "There is a good likelihood other charges will be pending," said OPP Detective Sergeant Terry Paddon of the Child Sexual Exploitation Section, which helped spearhead the effort. Two computer systems and the Web camera have been seized, he added, but they have not been fully scrutinized. The nature of the crime and eventual arrest is reminiscent of another case in Southwest Ontario, which drew international notoriety in 2006 and also involved the OPP's Child Sexual Exploitation section. A 35-year-old father from nearby St. Thomas was apprehended less than two hours after he exposed his four-year-old daughter to a Web camera, unaware that his correspondent was an undercover Toronto policeman. A subsequent search on his computer yielded about 3,500 images of child pornography. The crime attracted attention because a father generating and distributing images of his child in real time was, by most estimates, legally unprecedented. Last December, the culprit was sentenced to four years in prison, a term that drew outrage from experts, insisting that Canada does not respect the damage done to victims. "We have some of the best laws in the world," said Paul Gillespie, chief executive of the Kids' Internet Safety Alliance. "But judges in these cases seem to reluctant to mete out sentences that satisfy the public." Employing techniques similar to those used against the St. Thomas father, police obtained the identity and address of the accused from his Internet service provider. Warrant in hand, they entered a house in Listowel, a community about 50 kilo-metres north of Waterloo. In conjunction with the OPP's Perth Detachment, the Cyber Crimes Unit was able to rescue the child, but discovered that the alleged abuser had already left for work, where they tracked him down and arrested him -- all within three hours from the time of the abuse. The accused, whose identity is not being released in order to protect the identity of the victim of child sex abuse, was held for a bail hearing yesterday in Stratford. He has been remanded there until tomorrow. By:Craig Offman, National Post For the original story go to: Man suspected of abusing child over Web