FREDERICTON, Canada — A series of arrests and millions of images of child sexual abuse that were seized by police in New Brunswick as part of an operation that began months ago with hundreds of possible suspects.Insp. Kevin Leahy of the RCMP's Major Crime Unit in Fredericton said investigators pared down an original list of suspects to more than 160 and finally a smaller group of targets based on an assessment of their risk to the community.
Police in New Brunswick arrested three men and a male youth on Wednesday as part of a co-ordinated operation with municipal police forces in the province that began in November.- None of those who were arrested have been charged and police say three were released on conditions, including that they have no contact with children under the age of 16, have no access to the Internet and are not to be in possession of computers. Police say court appearances for those who were arrested will be scheduled for later dates.
- Police executed search warrants on homes in Moncton, Havelock, Grand Bay-Westfield, Dumfries and Petit-Rocher-Ouest, and say the bulk of the images and videos were seized from the home in Moncton.
Police arrested a 51-year-old man from Moncton, a 45-year-old man from Havelock, a 49-year-old man from Dumfries, and a youth under the age of 18 from Grand Bay-Westfield. The 51-year-old man remained in police custody on Wednesday.- Corp. Jean-Marc Pare of the RCMP's Internet Child Exploitation unit in Fredericton said the images and videos seized are of children being sexually abused and assaulted.
- Cybertip.ca, which operates Canada's national tip line for online sexual exploitation offences, receives about 700 tips per month. It reports that as many as 80 per cent of its confirmed child pornography reports involve children younger than eight years old.
In New Brunswick alone there were 71 cases of child pornography reported to the RCMP last year. That doesn't include incidents reported to municipal police forces.Parents are advised to be aware that many of the pictures and videos being sold or traded around the world are of victims in New Brunswick.
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