Webcam 'monster'

Webcam 'monster'

Police hope pics lead them to sex abuse suspect By KIM BRADLEY, TORONTO SUN

The hunt for a "monster" who was captured in a horrific webcam movie molesting a little girl has prompted Toronto Police to release the suspect's photo -- a first for Canadian police. Sex crimes officers made the bold move yesterday after seizing the movie, with the words "Canadian Girl" in the title, from 10 of 27 suspects arrested in four countries in one of the largest international child porn rings ever. "Good for Toronto (Police) for doing this," said Det. Randy Wickins, an Edmonton police officer who stumbled on the ring while investigating another child porn offender last year. "This is a monster that needs to be caught and this little girl needs to be saved," he said. "The children we are talking about are being tortured. We should do anything to find them." The probe, called Project Wickerman, named after the 1973 movie about a police search for a missing girl called The Wicker Man, has lead police to hundreds of suspects in Australia, the U.S., U.K. and Canada and more arrests are expected.

RAPE OF NEWBORNS Only one Wickerman suspect has been arrested in Toronto. The ring was responsible for trading child abuse images, and sometimes viewing live rapes of children as young as newborns in a chat room called Kiddypics & Kiddyvids. This film is one of "hundreds of thousands" of images seized during this investigation, police said. Toronto Police released pieces of the 33-minute video after digitally erasing the victim. The webcam film shows a man abusing a white girl who is 8 to 10 years old and is believed to have been filmed somewhere in Canada. "We need to find her to make sure she is safe. We want to know who this man is and where this room is," said Staff-Insp. Jane Wilcox, head of the Toronto Police sex crimes unit. "Take a very close look at the face of this suspect. If there's any link in the minds of the public, please call police." Releasing suspect photos of unidentified men has drawn criticism in the past from victim advocates who believe identifying suspects could identify victims. But police say rescuing kids is more important. Asked if he would release the victim's photo in this case, Det.-Sgt. Paul Gillespie, head of the Toronto Police child exploitation section, said he may consider it as a last resort. "There's always a possibility that this investigation will force us to forge new ground," he said, noting the FBI has identified seven child porn suspects after releasing their photos on America's Most Wanted recently. "We may release her picture later on, if it comes to that." ALTERED PHOTOS Toronto Police made a similar move last year when they released altered photos of a hotel room in order to identify a victim. Those pictures, which also had the victim removed, led police to a Disney World resort, and eventually the victim who had suffered five years of abuse before being found. Masha Allen, 13, who was adopted from Russia at age 5, had already been rescued and her abuser, Matthew Mancuso, 47, was serving life when Toronto released the photos. Gillespie said he hopes the same is true in this latest case. "I hope we get the news that this girl has been rescued and that this guy is in jail, but the reality is nothing we have done to date would lead us to that determination," he said. 'HEARTBREAKING' "It's heartbreaking. Nothing seems to do it justice. It belittles it to call it a sexual assault. It's disgusting," he said. Toronto Det.-Const. Warren Bulmer who was involved in both cases said rescuing victims is what keeps him going. "We have a job to do and that is to save kids," he said. "We've had some successes, and that's what drives us." ARTICLE SOURCE: http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/05/06/1567039-sun.html