OPP arrest 80 people in child online exploitation investigation

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Update:

Steven Campbell has been re-arrested for additional offences on Thursday, May 5.  These offences include 8 counts of making child pornography, 8 counts of sexual interference and 8 counts of sexual assault. Campbell will appear in court in Brampton on Friday May 6. The victims were all in attendance at a preschool day care facility when the incidents took place.

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The Ontario Provincial Police, 25 local police services from across the province and even U.S. Homeland security teamed together to arrest 80 people in connection with child pornography and human trafficking. Several of the offenders are from the greater Hamilton area, including a daycare worker.

37-year old Steven Campbell of Brampton has been fired from the Milton Community Resource Centre after being charged with possessing and accessing child pornography. Campbell is one of 80 Ontarian’s facing 274 charges in part to a Ontario-wide investigation to crack down on child pornography and human trafficking.

20 children, some as young as 12 have been identified and taken to support groups. Regardless, given the nature of the exploitation and who assaulted them, those children will never be the same.

“Live-streaming, live images, individual pictures, to describe it any further it’s for my perspective any image of a child being abused is a bad image. I mean in a lot of cases the victim’s are an individual’s own child, step child, neighbour child.” Frank Goldschmidt, OPP.

56-year old Tad Nelson of Dundas was also arrested and charged with two counts of possessing child porn. Halton region confirmed to CHCH that Nelson is a paramedic and has since been put on leave. The investigation resulted in the rescue of 9 people involved in the sex trade, some of the victims were anywhere between 14 and 16 years old.

Police say they have made 80 arrests as part of a sweeping investigation in Ontario targeting the exploitation of children online.

Some of those arrested are from the Hamilton include:

– Tad Nelson, 56, Dundas
– William Sanchuck, 30, Dundas
– Joshua Buckle, 39, Hamilton
– Justin Raposo, 20, Milton
– Ang Li, 25, Oakville
– Darren Evans, 42, Oakville
– 35 year old from Niagara Region
– 34 year old from Brantford

Others that were arrested can be found on the OPP website.