London
-
Authorities
say
police
have
shattered
a
global
Internet
pedophile
ring,
rescuing
31
children
and
rounding
up
more
than
700
suspects
in
dozens
of
countries -
including
Canada.
Canadian
Press
Published:
Monday,
June
18,
2007
The
British-based
Child
Exploitation
and
Online
Protection
Centre
says
some
200
suspects
are
based
in
the
United
Kingdom.
The
centre
says
the
ring
was
traced
to
an
Internet
chat
room
called
"Kids
the
Light
of
Our
Lives"
that
featured
images
of
children
being
subjected
to
horrific
sexual
abuse.
The
investigation
involved
agencies
from
35
countries
and
has
gone
on
for
10
months.
Among
agencies
that
helped
in
the
investigation
was
the
Toronto
Police
Service,
which
conducted
online
surveillance
along
with
British
police,
the
centre
said.
Toronto
police
say
they've
arrested
10
people
since
March
2006,
bringing
the
total
number
of
Canadian
arrests
to
24
since
late
2005,
and
seven
Canadian
children
were
rescued.
Det.-Sgt.
Kim
Scanlon
told
CBC
Newsworld
the
arrests
were
part
of
an
operation
dubbed
Project
Wickerman
in
Canada,
and
that
an
Ontario
child
was
among
the
seven
rescued.
Some
of
those
arrested
have
already
appeared
in
court
but
all
the
cases
are
still
outstanding,
said
Scanlon.
"There's
still
ongoing
suspects
that
we
need
to
investigate,"
she
said.
"As
a
result
of
each
and
every
arrest,
a
seizure
of
computer
equipment
and
information
just
becomes
a
whole
host
of
more
spin
offs."
The
host
of
the
website,
Timothy
David
Martyn
Cox,
27,
of
Buxhall,
England,
who
used
the
online
identity
"Son
of
God,"
admitted
to
nine
counts
of
possessing
and
distributing
indecent
images.
After
his
arrest
in
September,
authorities
were
able
to
infiltrate
the
chat
room
and
collect
evidence
on
the
other
alleged
members.
