Child porn bust: 5 children saved, RCMP lay 343 charges

Five Canadian children were rescued, and 150 people have either been charged or remain under investigation in a massive RCMP child pornography operation targeting online predators exploiting children, police said today from Dartmouth, N.S.

Operation Snapshot III involved 40 police agencies across Canada and included 167 investigations by hundreds of officers over several months.

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Five prepubescent children — two from British Columbia, and one each in Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec — were rescued.

More than 150 people were charged or remain under investigation.

A total of 343 charges of child sex assault, luring, possessing, distributing and making available child pornography were laid following the execution of Operation Snapshot. 

RCMP Sgt. Mike Petrilli calls the problem of online child exploitation "widespread." 

“Investigating these types of crimes is a serious matter. During the past four years working at the centre, I have seen how widespread this problem is, not only in Canada but worldwide," he said.

"Internet-facilitated child exploitation is one of the most horrific types of crimes a police officer has to investigate, yet there is never a shortage of volunteers that want to step up and make a  difference for a child.”

More than 1 million images seized

Police seized more than a million images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, from Canada and around the world.

Insp. Bob Resch of the Centre for Missing and Exploited Children said these images were "not simply children having a bubble bath."  

He and Petrilli said they are clearly children, including infants and toddlers, being sexually assaulted. 

“Police officers who investigate these crimes know that the investigation never really ends, as the images are forever distributed on the internet. However, police officers know that they can make a difference. They stop the abuse and ensure the successful prosecution of the offenders,” said Petrilli.

Operation Snapshot III follows two other operations investigating targeting online child pornography. 

Resch calls internet child exploitation "a borderless crime."

“The internet is something that's growing on a daily basis and I think we are always trying to keep up and catch up. I can say, truly ... from Canada's perspective, that our police officers and the ones that you have before you are considered subject-matter experts in this country as well as subject-matter experts internationally and that we have led many training courses and distributions on how to do best practices," he said.

Resch said there is still  much work to do. 

'We will never be able to stop it," he said.

Operation Snapshot in 2012 targeted individuals in the Prairies and northern regions of Canada. Operation Snapshot II in 2013 focused on individuals in Atlantic Canada.