Toronto: Toronto police have arrested nearly two dozen people and charged them with nearly 100 charges in connection with online child exploitation investigation.
This investigation was dubbed as Project ‘Maverick’, was a collaboration between the Ontario Provincial Police, 27 police agencies, including Toronto, Peel and Durham Police.
Locally, Toronto police conducted 24 search warrants within 20 days in October, arresting 23 people and slapping 96 charges against them. Investigators identified 22 children who were being abused online and rescued 10 children.
Across the province, police investigated 255 cases and charged 107 people with 428 charges. Investigators managed to work on 168 search warrants and seized 1,032 devices.
As many as 61 such children were identified who were being exploited and rescued through relevant sources. Apart from this, 60 other children were rescued by the OPP. A total of 175 cases are still under investigation and more charges are likely to be imposed in this regard, police said.