386 children saved in global porn raids

Police said that 386 children were rescued and 348 people were arrested following a worldwide child pornography investigation.

17:06 15 November 2013

Project Spade, a worldwide child pornography investigation, has led to the arrests of 348 suspects with 386 children also rescued in the process of the operation.

According to detectives in Canada, this is one of the largest porn raids in history. Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said: "It is alleged that officers seized hundreds of thousands of videos detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children, some of the worst that they have ever viewed.”

Police confirmed that out of 348 people arrested, 108 are from Canada and 76 hail in the US.

Among those arrested include school teachers, actors, and doctors.

Beaven-Desjardins said that the investigation has started with a Toronto man accused of running a company that distributed child pornography videos since 2005. It is alleged that 42-year-old Brian Way asked people across the world to make videos of children which he distributed via his company, Azov films, to international buyers. The police searched his home and about 1,000 pieces of evidence were seized.

"This operation shows that international police co-operation works. Despite large amounts of material and that this is time-consuming work, this shows that the internet is not a safe haven for crimes against children," Norwegian police spokesman Bjoern-Erik Ludvigsen said.