Doctor, teachers among 153 arrested in 3-year international child sex abuse investigation
Detective Constable Janelle Blackadar announces the results of Project Mercury in Toronto
Thursday April 12, 2018.
Joshua Freeman, CP24.com
Toronto police say the 2014 discovery of an online group allegedly involved in the sexual abuse of children has led to 153 arrests and numerous convictions in multiple countries and jurisdictions, including Canada.
The results of a three-year-investigation, dubbed Project Mercury, were announced by investigators from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. at a news conference in Toronto Thursday.
Police said that after the National Crime Agency in the U.K. discovered the group in 2014, they reached out to various other police agencies as offenders and locations were identified.
The growing investigation led police to a number of disturbing discoveries.
As part of an undercover investigation in July 2015, officers from the Toronto Police Child Exploitation Section observed the sexual abuse of a six-year-old child being live streamed for the pleasure of the abuser, as well as for a participating online audience, police said Thursday.
“During the abuse of the six-year-old child, users commented amongst themselves, as well as directing the abuser,” Detective Constable Janelle Blackadar told reporters. “Unfortunately this was not the first time this happened, but I can tell you that it was the last.”
Blackadar said the abuser was identified in Pennsylvania within hours and the child was rescued.
Several people who allegedly watched and directed the abuse were subsequently identified by local police services and more than 20 alleged offenders were arrested.
In March 2016, an undercover Toronto police officer found child sex abuse material involving an eight-year-old child.
“The offender also was inviting members of this community to attend and engage in the sexual abuse of this child by drugging the child with narcotics to facilitate the abuse,” Blackadar said.
The child was identified as being in Saskatoon, Sask. Toronto police contacted local RCMP, who arrested a suspect within hours and rescued the child.
A Saskatoon man was subsequently convicted of multiple child porn-related charges and an application has been made to designate him as a dangerous offender, police said.
The investigation has led to the arrest and conviction of multiple alleged offenders, including seven in Toronto, two in Ottawa and one in each of Belleville, Thunder Bay, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
“The success of this joint project with the National Crime Agency and Homeland Security Investigations, along with numerous other domestic and international partners is a great example of cooperation of law enforcement agencies with one common goal; to identify and safeguard children, no matter where they are in the world,” Blackadar said.
Graham Ellis of the U.K’s National Crime Agency told reporters that many of those arrested as part of the investigation were people who had occupied positions of trust.
“We’ve safeguarded 58 children as a direct result of this operation,” Ellis said. “We’ve also removed nine people from a position of trust. By that, I mean four teachers, a doctor, a member of police staff, an A&E nurse, a priest, and a private music tutor. We’ve also prevented a child being adopted by an offender and we’ve removed a child from foster care.”
He said the July 2015 incident observed by Toronto police led U.K. police to arrest and prosecute six offenders.
“Of those six, the most serious was a youth worker who drove vulnerable adults around the United Kingdom,” Ellis said. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Other people prosecuted in connection with that incident included a charity worker and primary school teacher, Ellis added.
In all, Project Mercury involved 23 U.S. states, as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Slovenia.
Police have published a list of those charged and or convicted in Canada as part of the investigation.
Blackadar said technology has multiplied the potential for the sexual abuse of children and she said investigators are urging anyone with a sexual interest in children to come forward to police or health professionals to receive treatment rather than consuming child sex abuse material.
Tanya van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook were killed in Washington state in 1987 in a case that has baffled police
Karin Larsen · CBC News 
Police are hoping revolutionary DNA technology will lead them to a suspect in the cold case of a young B.C. couple killed 30 years ago in Washington state.
Tanya van Cuylenborg, 18, and Jay Cook, 20, of Saanich, Vancouver Island, were last seen on Nov. 18, 1987.
The high school sweethearts took a ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, Wash., on what was supposed to be an overnight trip to Seattle. Both of their bodies were found within days of their disappearance and police have been baffled by the case ever since.
Images of a suspect in the double homicide have been created using DNA collected back in 1987. They show a Caucasian, green or hazel-eyed, blond-haired man at ages 25, 45 and 65.
Here's what the suspect might look like at ages 25 and 45. (Snohomish County Sheriff's Office)
According to the information gleaned from DNA, the man may also have freckles and be thinner or heavier than the images indicate. Detectives believe whoever the killer is likely bears a strong resemblance to the images.
The sister of Jay Cook says she hopes the photos will spark new tips in the case.
"If these pictures from this new, amazing technology triggers a memory ... please come forward forward for the sake of my brother Jay and Tanya. Call it in," said Laura Baanstra.
New DNA technique
The technique used is called Snapshot DNA phenotyping and is a relatively new procedure that involves using DNA to predict the physical appearance and ancestry of a suspect or unknown person.
"We've used it in over 150 cases and with 100 different agencies both in the U.S. and internationally," said Ellen McRae Greytak of Parabon Technologies, the company behind Snapshot DNA.
"We've helped solve quite a number of cases, [some] as old as 25 years."
Baanstra said she had yet to work up the courage to look at the images. "That may be the face of the person who killed my brother," she said, choking back tears. "That's tough."
Cold case detective Jim Scharf, who works in Snohomish County, Wash., said if nothing else, the photos help rule out anyone with dark skin or dark hair being a suspect.
"We hope that this new technology will help us positively identify a suspect and finally provide answers for their families," said Scharf. "We believe that someone knows who our person of interest is."
The high school sweethearts were killed in Washington state 30 years ago. (Crime Stoppers)
Cook, 20, and van Cuylenborg, 18, were reported missing Nov. 20, 1987, after taking the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, Wash., on what was supposed to be an overnight trip to Seattle.
A week after the couple vanished, van Cuylenborg's body was discovered in a ditch, 20 kilometres south of Bellingham, Wash. Police said she had been raped and shot in the head.
A poster seeking information about the 1987 double homicide of the Saanich couple. (CBC archives)
Cook's body was discovered under a bridge in Monroe, Wash., a couple of days later. He had been beaten and strangled.
"The person who did this came prepared to do a brutal crime," said Scharf, who has worked on the case for 13 years.
Despite numerous public appeals over the years and and a number of crimes shows profiling the homicides, detectives had exhausted all leads.
"Their killer has never been identified, and the DNA has never come back with a positive hit," said Snohomish County Sherrif Ty Trenary. "With this, we may be one step closer to identifying the killer."
"It gives us hope," agreed Sgt. Jennifer Sheahan-Lee of the Skagit Country Sheriff's Office.
Jay Cook's body was found under this bridge in Monroe, Wash. He had been beaten and strangled to death. (CBC archives)
Cook and van Cuylenbog's families have put forward a reward of $50,000 that will stand until the end of this year in exchange for information leading to the identification of the suspect.
"This was a cold and calculated crime. This person could have talked or bragged about this event," Baanstra said. "Even just the smallest piece of information could help."
Anyone with information can call 425-388-3845.
Former B.C. CSA police detective pleads guilty
to 3 sex-related offences
KATYA SLEPIAN
A former Vancouver Police Department detective who specialized in investigating child exploitation has pleaded guilty to three sex-related charges, including two that involve a minor.
James Fisher made his guilty pleas at provincial court in Surrey on Wednesday.
Fisher was originally arrested in Surrey in December 2016 on three counts of sexual exploitation, one count of breach of trust, one count of sexual assault and one count of obstructing justice by providing false or misleading information, but a BC Prosecution Service spokesperson said the Crown was proceeding on two new informations containing the entirety of the charges.
This avoids a stay of proceedings but doesn’t affect sentencing.
The two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation that Fisher pleaded guilty to Wednesday were added in March 2017.
The charges state that Fisher abused his position of trust by kissing a young person for a sexual purpose, and kissing two witnesses in a criminal prosecution. The victims were one minor and one adult.
According to the BC Prosecution Service, the three offences took place between Aug. 22 and Dec. 7, 2015, and all took place in Surrey or Vancouver.
Fisher was a longtime detective with the VPD’s (Vancouver Police Dept.) unit that investigates child exploitation. He received the 2015 Chief Constable Unit Citation for extraordinary dedication for his part in the force’s probe into a child-trafficking case.
The Vancouver Police did not comment on the case Wednesday, however Chief Const. James Palmer spoke out when charges were initially laid in 2016.
“I was upset… very troubling news,” Palmer at a press conference. “It’s a very unfortunate set of circumstances and it’s a very difficult thing for me to stand before you today.”
Fisher is expected to be sentenced on June 29.
Priest who repeatedly raped boy, 5,
jailed for nine years in Scotland
By Wilma Riley
A PAEDOPHILE priest has been jailed for nine years after repeatedly raping a five-year-old boy and abusing other youths.
Father Francis Moore, 82, forced his vulnerable victims to relive the horror abuse by giving evidence during his trial.
Moore was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow
Today, Judge Rita Rae slammed Moore for abusing his position within the church.
He was convicted of the historic sexual abuse of three young boys and a trainee priest.
And one of his victims Paul Smyth, now 49, has urged other victims to come forward.
Moore, who was also known as Father Paul, was found guilty after trial at the High Court in Glasgow last month.
Judge Lady Rae told him: “You have been convicted of despicable crimes involving the sexual abuse of three children 40 years ago and more recently of a student priest.
“The most serious of these crime involved the repeated sodomy of a little boy aged five."
“In carrying out these crime you took advantage of your position as a minister of religion, a profession from which the public, including children, ought to be able to expect integrity, trust, support and pastoral care. What you did was a gross breach of trust."
“The complainers have displayed considerable courage in coming forward to denounce your criminal conduct.”
Moore showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.
Outside court, brave victim Paul Smyth, who has waived his right to anonymity, said: “I am glad justice is done and I can finally put this behind me. I am sure there are other survivors who were too scared to come forward.”
Paul, who was sexually abused as a boy on Irvine beach, added: “I would urge all victims of historic abuse to go to the police and give their testimony."
“Tell a teacher, tell your parents, tell the police, tell the clergy. There are good clergy as well as abusive clergy in the Catholic Church.”
The court heard allegations against Father Moore were first raised in 1996 but it was not until 2015 that a major cop probe was launched after former top cop and former Labour MSP Graeme Pearson flagged the matter in parliament.
Bishop Maurice Taylor, 91, told the court Moore admitted he had “an attraction to young boys” and had “a desire to abuse minors” – and was shipped off to a specialist clinic in Toronto for his “problem”.
When he returned from Canada he was told he could no longer serve as a parish priest.
The court also heard the priest groomed some of his victims by taking them swimming or out for meals before sexually abusing them.
His youngest victim was just five when the priest abused him at primary school. The man, now 46, told how Moore kissed him and then sexually abused him.
He said the abuse took place for the first time when he was sent to Moore by his teachers after drawing a picture of Jesus Christ with nipples.
The man said he was crying and Moore embraced him and then sexually abused him.
Serial molester gets 15 years’ jail for
sexual abuse of 3 girls
TNN
MUMBAI: A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a serial molester to a total 15 years in jail for sexually abusing three minor children in his neighbourhood.
Crawford Market, Santa Cruz, Mumbai
The man was found guilty and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in each of the three cases. The sentences will have to be served one after the other.
The 39-year-old accused, arrested by Santacruz police in 2015, will be granted a setoff for the time he has already spent in jail. This means, he will now be in jail for 12 years.
The accused was, however, acquitted in a fourth case where he was accused of sexually abusing two girls in the neighbourhood.
In April 2015, four offences of molestation and rape were lodged against the accused at Santacruz police station. Police arrested him and alleged he was a serial offender who called the girls over to play with his two-year-old child.
A 10-year-old girl first complained to her parents, and later two girls—aged between five and eight—related similar experiences.
The 10-year-old told police that she and other children from the neighbourhood would often go to play at the residence of the accused, whom she called “mama” (uncle). The girl said that on April 15, 2015, when she was playing at his place, he sexually abused her. She informed her parents a few days later.
The 10-year-old girl also told police that her sister too had told her parents about a similar incident involving the accused.
Santa Cruz, Mumbai
Pope Francis admits 'serious mistakes' in Chile
child sex abuse cases
By Susan McFarland 
Pope Francis said he feels "pain and shame" for those who suffered clergy-related abuse in Chile, and that he made "serious mistakes" in handling the cases. Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo
UPI -- Pope Francis told bishops in Chile he feels "pain and shame" for the "crucified lives" of clergy-related sex abuse victims, saying he made "serious mistakes" in his handling of the cases.
In a letter Wednesday to followers, the pope asked for forgiveness and said he misjudged the severity of the cases. He said his perception was "due to a lack of truthful and balanced information."
And, why would he expect truth from a bishop?
"I can affirm that all the testimonies collected speak in a stark manner, without additives or sweeteners, of many crucified lives and I confess that this has caused me pain and shame," Pope Francis said after a "slow reading" of the report.
"I apologize to all those I have offended," he said, adding that he plans to apologize personally to some of the survivors who testified.
The pope has not said whether he will ask Madrid to step down, but has asked the country's bishops to visit Rome for a meeting in the near future.
Karadima, the former head of the El Bosque parish in Santiago, was sentenced to a life of penitence and prayer for his abuse of young boys in 2011.
Child Sex Dolls Pulled Down By Amazon
After Widespread Criticism In UK
Britain allows people to manufacture and own child sex dolls
yet it is illegal to import them
World | Reuters LONDON: Child sex dolls have been pulled from sale by online retail giant Amazon.com Inc after widespread criticism from a watchdog and charities in Britain over concerns that people who use such lifelike dolls may go on to sexually abuse children.
"All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don't will be subject to action including potential removal of their account," an Amazon spokesman said in a statement. "The products in question are no longer available."
England Children's Commissioner, Anne Longfield, said Amazon should explain how the dolls were permitted to be posted on their website, and ensure they cannot be put back up for sale.
"Such dolls are clearly built for one purpose, and that purpose is a clear danger to the safety of real children," she said in a statement after a BBC investigation into the issue.
Britain allows people to manufacture and own child sex dolls yet it is illegal to import them. A British man was convicted last year for doing so in what police said was a landmark case in the fight against a new form of sex crime against children.
Opinion is divided over the use of child sex dolls, which have the appearance, weight and anatomy of real children.
Other organisations, such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), say sex dolls can be dangerous proxies to act out fantasies like rape or child abuse.
"There is a risk that people using these dolls could become desensitised ... (and) go on to harm children, as is often the case with those who view indecent images of children online," said Almudena Lara, NSPCC's head of policy and public affairs.
"There is absolutely no evidence that using the dolls stops potential abusers from abusing children," she added.
In fact, because we know that sin is progressive (which we have documented many times here), we know that men will soon tire of the imitation and begin to desire the real thing.
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