‘Project Hydra’ child porn investigation leads to 17 GTA arrests

WATCH: A year-long international investigation has led to 41 arrests in 17 countries on child porn charges, including right here in Canada. Robin Gill reports.

TORONTO – York Regional Police have announced the arrests of 17 people across the Greater Toronto Area in connection to a large-scale investigation involving child exploitation and online child pornography.

Police say the probe, titled Project Hydra, started May 2014 after authorities in the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre received information that child pornography was being uploaded on a computer in York Region.

“Initially, when we got our judicial authorization that took an IP address to a specific address, we went there looking for a suspect,” said Inspector Tim Kelly of York Regional Police during a press conference Wednesday.

“Somebody had uploaded two images to an email account. It turned out the person was actually a victim and was coerced to taking self-exploitive pictures and sharing them with other people online.”

This led police to initiate a large-scale international joint-forces investigation focused on identifying child victims.

Law enforcement partners included the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and INTERPOL.

York police say 41 suspects have been identified across Canada, the United States and around the world.

WATCH: York Region police provide overview of “Project Hydra” child porn investigation that led to 17 arrests in Canada

As of to date, 19 victims have been identified ranging from nine to 15 years of age.

Information obtained through this investigation has also resulted in a parallel investigation with the RCMP in New Brunswick.

READ MORE: Moncton man could have sexually exploited thousands of boys online: RCMP

A 24-year-old Moncton man is under arrest and faces several sex related offences for allegedly sexually exploiting boys online from at least Jan. 2012 to the fall of 2014.

RCMP officials say the accused contacted boys between 10 and 16 years of age through live video chats on various social media sites.

Police say the man used a video of a teenaged girl that appeared to be live and convinced them to undress and initiate sex acts.

VIDEO: RCMP announce details of arrest of Moncton man involved in child sexual exploitation

It is further alleged the accused taped and distributed the material via the Internet.

Investigators have determined that there could be as many as 2000 victims living in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and Russia and possibly elsewhere.

Police are urging anyone with information or victims to come forward.