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Woodstock Man Charged in Massive Child Pornography Sting

A Woodstock man is one of 122 people who were charged in a Province wide child pornography sting.

WOODSTOCK - A Woodstock man is one of 122 people in Ontario who are facing charges related to Child pornography. 

The OPP, along with 26 other police agencies held a press conference yesterday to announce the work that has been done by Internet Child Exploitation Investigators. In total police handed out 551 charges after the month long investigation. The charges included people from all walks of life, past and present teachers, emergency services personnel, military members and others active in local communities.

Several people from our region were charged from Brantford, London and Kitchener Waterloo. 37 year old William M. Elphinestone of Woodstock was one of the people arrested. He is facing charges of possession of child pornography, making child pornography and distribution of child pornography. 

In addition, 55 victims were identified during the investigations and referred to appropriate community-based resources for assistance.

Deputy Commissioner Rick Barnum with the OPP Investigation and Support Bureau says the arrests that were made last month send a clear message. 

"It is our fundamental and moral responsibility to ensure every child grows up safe. On behalf of the OPP, I want to make this message very clear: We will not stand for anyone hurting our kids. We will do everything we can to reduce the threat child predators pose to our children."

OPP Counter Exploitation and Missing Persons Section, Inspector Tina Chalk says this was a team effort. 

"The investigators of the Provincial Strategy and our partners work tirelessly in one of the most difficult jobs in policing to bring those who would harm our children to justice. We know from experience that working together will allow us to most effectively combat the internet sexual exploitation of children."

Staff Sergeant Sharon Hanlon, Coordinator of the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet says if you are contributing to child pornography in anyway, you will be arrested and charged. 

"Perpetrators of online sexual exploitation often minimize their actions by saying they were 'just looking.' Let me be clear: Anyone who possesses, distributes, accesses or otherwise supports the supply and demand chain for child sexual abuse images are complicit in the sexual exploitation of children."

You can see a complete list of everyone who was charged online here. 

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