Men from Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo charged amid nationwide child exploitation investigation

Fingers type on a computer keyboard in North Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday, December, 19, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Three men from the Region of Waterloo are among the more than 100 people charged in a nationwide investigation into online child exploitation.

Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) teams with the RCMP and various police departments across Ontario and Quebec, carried out dozens of search warrants between Feb. 17 and Feb. 28.

A total of 106 people were arrested as part of Project Steel and more than 300 charges were laid.

Officials said they arrested 40 people in Ontario alone, laid 151 charges and seized 686 electronic devices. They also identified 31 victims of sexual exploitation and “safeguarded” 20 children.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service, which was involved in the operation, said three local men are facing a total of 18 charges in connection to Project Steel.

Twelve charges have been laid against a 43-year-old Kitchener man who has not been identified, including sexual interference, making child pornography, luring a child, sexual assault and committing an indecent act.

A 35-year-old Cambridge man and a 45-year-old Waterloo man, who were also not named, are each charged with possessing child pornography and making child pornography available.

Police are still looking for a fourth man, only identified as a 32-year-old, who is wanted on two counts of possessing child pornography.

Officers with the Waterloo Regional Police Service conducted five search warrants and seized 31 devices as part of Project Steel. They said they continue to investigate locally, completing two additional searches in Kitchener and Waterloo after the operation wrapped up.