More than three dozen people have been arrested in connection with a child pornography ring operating in 17 countries, Toronto-area police say.

At a news conference Wednesday, York Regional Police said 19 child victims were identified as part of Project Hydra, a large-scale joint-forces investigation.

Investigators say the victims’ ranged in age from infants to teenagers. The suspects' ages varied from 12 to 44 years old.

"The abusers appear to be people that the victims trusted or online predators that coerced the victim into creating child sexual abuse materials," York Regional Police Insp. Tim Kelly said Wednesday, telling reporters that 125 search warrants were executed, 41 people were arrested, and a total of 110 charges laid in the year-long investigation.

Seven of the suspects were arrested in York Region and 10 lived in the GTA, police said.

The investigation began in April 2014, when police were tipped off about images uploaded from a computer in York Region. Police did not identify the individual, saying only that it was a "young person" who had uploaded the images.

A search warrant was executed, and police discovered several unknown people around the world were exchanging child pornography through social networking sites and private chatrooms.

"Investigators learned that the young person had been a victim of child exploitation, and had been coerced into providing self-exploited images to the unknown people online," Kelly said. The young person and his or her family are receiving support through YRP's victim services program, he said.

Kelly said police contacted website owners, who helped identify suspects around the world. They then contacted authorities including the RCMP, FBI and police forces across Canada.

The investigation is ongoing "and continues to grow," as police work to identify any additional victims.

Parents looking for more information can visit cybertip.ca or call York Regional Police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 2664.

Parallel investigation in New Brunswick

RCMP spoke at Wednesday's conference about a New Brunswick investigation that was sparked by the major bust based in Ontario.

Information from York Regional Police last fall led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man from Moncton, N.B. who cannot be named because of a court order.

Insp. Peter Payne said the man contacted boys through live video chats on various social media sites. He used a video of a teenage girl that appeared to be live to convince the boys to undress and initiate sex acts.

He taped them and distributed the videos across the Internet.

Police believe the man may have had more than 2,000 victims from Canada, the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and Russia.

"Many of them may not be aware they have been victimized," Payne said.

Payne said the man used the following identities:

  • Skype: Veronika.Maylae
  • Vichatter: Veronika69
  • Facebook: Vero May
  • Email: boiyavi@hotmail.com, revolboy@hotmail.com, tigerjack@hotmail.com

Police ask anyone with more information on the Moncton man to contact investigators at 506-452-3405.