Toronto Police arrest six men in connection with international child sexual abuse investigation

In October 2019, New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs launched Operation H after being alerted to a number of accounts alleged to be involved in the distribution of material showing child sexual abuse.

The investigation, which grew to include thirteen countries, has implicated six men from Toronto.

According to CP24, since being arrested, one has passed away, and one has been sentenced. The other four have yet to appear before the courts.

"This material depicted some of the most horrific abuse of children investigators had ever seen," Toronto Deputy Chief of Police Myron Demkiw said during a news conference on Wednesday.

Inspector Justin Vander Heyden added that, "The people that were charged were people who came through the tips from the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs' information and they were charged with a variety of offenses, but in most cases just the possession and distribution of certain files that came up on the New Zealand investigation."

In total, the accused face nineteen charges related to possessing, accessing, and distributing material showing child sexual abuse.

In a press release sent out on Wednesday, the New Zealand DIA announced that since the investigation began, over 90,000 accounts have been investigated "following an alert from an Electronic Service Provider who had found tens of thousands of offenders using the platform to share some of the most horrific and devastating child sexual abuse material online."

Tim Houston, leader of Operation H, warned of the real-world implications of this online activity.

"Many people who view material of this kind will go on to physically offend against children," he said. "It is imperative that we are able to bring them to justice before they are able to do more damage. This is not a victimless crime, every time this material is viewed, that child is revictimized."