A Stony Plain, Alta. resident has been arrested for his alleged connection to a global child sexual exploitation investigation conducted by the Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS).
According to Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), the investigation led to the arrest of 28 suspects in 14 countries.
Dubbed “Operation Torch,” the investigation found the suspects allegedly obtained material depicting child sexual abuse using cryptocurrency to pay for access to dark web forums.
“We have collaborated closely with law enforcement services in 13 other countries to coordinate the arrests of the identified users of the forums using this cryptocurrency as the required method of payment,” said Police Prosecutor Terje Michelsen, Norwegian NCIS.
One of these suspects is 40-year-old Stony Plain resident Rocco Caterina, who was arrested at his home by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation unit on May 27. He was charged with possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.
ALERT says he was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court on July 15.
Officials say Operation Torch is ongoing, but coordinated arrests have so far been made in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
Norwegian NCIS officials report that over 460 items have been seized in connection with the investigation, including storage media and electronic devices, material showing the sexual abuse of children, crypto wallets, drugs and large quantities of doping substances.
They add that there are many suspects in the case, and more arrests are expected.
More information from Norwegian investigators is available here.
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