Five Guelph men were among the 122 people charged in Ontario last month as part of a province-wide crack down on online child sexual abuse.
The OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit provided details of their investigation at a news conference in Toronto Wednesday.
Sebastian Chojnicki, 43, was charged with making child pornography, possession of child pornography, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault, criminal harassment and possess a prohibited weapon.
Jordan Doyle, 35, was charged with make available child pornography, possession of child pornography, agreement or arrangement - sexual offence against a child.
A 66-year-old man was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, making child pornography and possession of child pornography.
Mateusz Wyszomirski, 29, and Alexander Wang, 24, were charged with possession of child pornography, make available child pornography and accessing child pornography.
The sweep led to 551 total charges against the 122 people, including 11 youth.
"In addition, 55 victims were identified during the investigations and referred to appropriate community-based resources for assistance. Police also seized a total of 17 firearms three of which were loaded handguns," said an OPP news release.
Additional partners that participated in these investigations included RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, The FBI and United States Homeland Security Investigations. Representatives of BOOST Child and Youth Advocacy Centre and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (CCCP) were also on hand to advocate for more services for identified victims of exploitation and to enhance awareness to prevent further harm and victimization.
From its inception in August 2006, the entire Provincial Strategy has completed 50,403 investigations and laid 20,901 charges against 5,686 people. During that period, 2,009 child victims have been identified in Ontario and beyond.
