348 people arrested in child-porn case connected to Canadian firm

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
24,691
116
63
Moving
U of A math professor arrested in global child porn sweep - Edmonton - CBC News
University of Alberta math professor Andrew Liu is among 341 people charged as part of a global child-exploitation investigation initiated by Toronto police.

Liu, 66, was charged with possession of child pornography after police searched his downtown apartment on Oct. 23.

348 people arrested in child-porn case connected to Canadian firm - The Globe and Mail

A Canadian company raked in $4-million from the sale of images of nude Eastern European boys, Toronto police said on Thursday, revealing details of a major international child-pornography investigation that rescued hundreds of victims.

‪The company, Toronto-based Azov Films, sold mail-order DVDs and streamed online videos of naked boys from Germany, Romania and Ukraine, which it marketed as naturist movies and claimed were legal in Canada and the United States.

At least 386 minors were removed from harm’s way, said Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins, commander of the Toronto police sex crimes unit.

There were 108 arrests in Canada, including 50 in Ontario and at least 45 in Quebec. An additional 76 people were charged in the United States.

Canadian suspects who were arrested included 40 school teachers, nine doctors and nurses, nine clerics and six law-enforcement personnel, Insp. Beaven-Desjardins said.

In one case, police searched the home of a retired teacher and seized 350,000 images of sex abuse and 9,000 videos.

“We’ve worked a lot of big cases. This is by far the biggest,” one official said.

The head of the company, 42-year-old Toronto resident Brian Way, has been in custody since his May, 2011, arrest after an online undercover operation.