Londoners among 31 charged in largest child-porn sweep in ...

two counts of making available child pornography.Kevin Nisbet, 42, of London, is charged with four counts of possession of child pornography and threecounts of making available child pornography.Police said those charged will be appearing in a London court Thursday."The most fundamental responsibility of our society is to protect our children," said Fantino. "TheOntario police services associated with the Provincial Strategy will stop at nothing to hunt down childpredators and eliminate the threat they pose to our children and our communities."In addition to the OPP, the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation onthe Internet is comprised 18 police services partners: Barrie, Brantford, Durham Regional, Guelph,Greater Sudbury, Halton Regional, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Niagara Regional, Ottawa, Peel Regional,Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Waterloo Regional, Windsor and York Regional."Today's successful announcement has taken weeks of work by dozens of officers," Fantino noted,adding the work will continue."The exploitation of children by any means is appalling, unconscionable and a very serious crime," hesaid. "The distribution of images of child abuse, the luring of young people by predators for deviantpurposes and the proliferation of Internet sites where pictures of every imaginable kind of abuse ofchildren – including infants – can be accessed by anyone, continues to be a challenge, a significantconcern to police agencies world wide, and I think to all of us as parents and as concerned citizens of anycommunity."The Provincial Strategy was created in August 2006 in response to the McGuinty government's requestthat police develop a coordinated, province-wide approach to combating Internet crimes againstchildren, Goldsmith said. The strategy is jointly supported by the Ministry of the Attorney-General forOntario and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.Prior to this sweep, from Aug. 2006 to Feb. 4, 2009, the Provincial Strategy completed 4,782investigations and laid 1,983 charges against 634 persons, Goldsmith said. The OPP Child SexualExploitation Section investigated an additional 996 cases and laid 392 charges against 144 personsduring this same period.The list of those charged in the most recent sweep is lengthy, and involves numerous communitiesacross the province:John Norman Sled, 60, of Hamilton; Terrence Blatchley, 44, of Niagara Falls; Scott Ersman, 18, ofWelland; Michael Sproule, 36, of Mississauga; a young offender from Mississauga; Chad Groves, 24, ofRichmond Hill; Alex Fiaoni, 33, of Woodbridge; Dane Raymond Wilson, 40, of Elmira; police executed a