Four Ottawa children have been rescued in a massive international child porn bust.
One Ottawa resident was arrested in Project Sanctuary, which led to the arrest of 57 men around the world and resulted in 218 charges. In total, 57 children were rescued in the operation, including 12 children in Canada.
The man charged in Ottawa is not being identified by police in order to protect the identity of his victims.
Across Canada, 21 men face 131 charges.
Police have been able to release the identities of several of them.
The investigation was launched in November 2009 when an undercover officer made contact with a man who was trading child sexual abuse images and videos over the Internet.
The 50-year-old man was convicted and evidence gathered helped officials infiltrate a worldwide network of men who were allegedly trading child sexual abuse images and videos and, in some cases, creating these images by abusing children.
Toronto Police teamed up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 13 Canadian police services and a number of other international policing agencies for the investigation.
A clown, a professor and a university don are among those netted in the busts, police said Wednesday.
The clown — Randy Miller, 40, of Napanee, Ont. — is facing five charges including sexual assault.
Richard Dyde, a 47-year-old York University professor, is facing four charges including making child porn.
Toby Stimpson, a 24-year-old York University residence don, has been charged with four counts of making child porn available and one of possession of child porn.
— With files from QMI Agency.
kelly.roche@sunmedia.ca
Kelly Roche - Storyteller 