Project Spade: 348 People Arrested in International Child Porn Ring Bust …386 Children Have Been Rescued

PROJECT SPADE BUSTS INTERNATIONAL CHILD PORN RING …

One of the largest commercial child pornography ring ever has been uncovered and busted in Canada. At last count, 348 people have been arrested in “Project Spade” (VIDEO) from over 50 countries and a reported 386 children have been rescued. As reported at Inside Toronto, police traced the internet connection to a Toronto man who was running an “exploitation” movie production and distribution company. “This company operated a website known as www.azovfilms.com where customers from around the world could place orders to have movies sent to them through the mail or through the internet.  At the center of the child porn ring is 42 year old  Brian Way.  This low life, oh alleged low life, faces 24 charges of making, possessing, distributing, exporting and selling the explicit images of boys, ranging in ages from toddlers to teens.

In all because of the Project Spade investigation, 108 Canadians have been arrested, 50 in Ontario, of whom at least 20 have so far pleaded guilty to various charges. Another 76 Americans face charges. Internationally, another 164 are before the courts and many more are still under investigation.

They have also laid a charge of instructing a criminal organization, the first time this has been done in relation to a child pornography investigation. It is a charge more usually associated with gangs or organized crime.

“This case has really challenged people to reconsider what nudism and child modelling are,” said Toronto police Detective-Constable Lisa Belanger, who led the investigation. “It’s caused countries around the world to look at this material and ask whether it’s OK for doctors, teachers, daycare providers and hockey coaches to be buying this kind of material. Countries from South Africa to Australia, Isle of Man to Hong Kong and Spain have all said it’s not OK. I think it’s going to have ripple effects everywhere.”

CNN:

A three-year investigation into an exploitative Toronto-based film company has netted nearly 350 arrests and rescued more than 380 children from sexual abuse, police said Thursday.

Law enforcement from all over the world, primarily in Eastern Europe and the United States, worked with Toronto police since 2010 to arrest those who produced child pornography and those who purchased it.

The owner of the film company, Brian Way, has been in jail since 2011 awaiting trial, and the producers who made the illegal films have been convicted in their home countries, Toronto police Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said.

The investigation is ongoing and more arrests will be made, but authorities decided it was time to share with the public the scope of its operation, known as Project Spade.

Among the 348 people arrested in the international child sex abuse investigation were 40 teachers, six law enforcement personnel, nine pastors or priests and some doctors and nurses, Beaven-Desjardins said.

Throughout the investigation, 386 children have been rescued, she said, referring to their removal from situations where they were being abused.

UPDATE I: David Scott Engle, from Lake Lucerne, Washington, is believed to be the first US child sex offender officially identified as someone caught by investigators from Project Spade.

A youth baseball coach was exposed as a prolific pedophile in one of the world’s biggest ever child porn busts, it can be revealed today.

David Scott Engle is believed to be the first American child sex offender officially identified as someone caught by investigators from Project Spade.

Last month MailOnline reported Engle, a divorce lawyer from Lake Lucerne in Washington, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after amassing thousands of child pornography images.

The 50-year-old will now stand trial on child rape charges after investigators found dozens of videos of him allegedly carrying out sickening sexual assaults on two boys.

UPDATE II: CTV – Two London men charged in Project Spade pornography investigation have court dates within a month.

David Rock, 52, charged with two counts of possessing child pornography and one count of accessing it, has a court date of Dec. 13 for a preliminary hearing.

William Allard, 38, has a court date of Nov. 29.

Anthony Ryckman, 42, pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing, making and accessing child pornography, and two counts of voyeurism.

Ryckman was sentenced to 23 months in jail and three years of probation. He has been ordered not to associate with anyone under 16 and given a DNA order and forfeiture order.

Ryckman will also be on the sex offender registry for life.

32 Year Old Anthony Brinkman Arrested at Missouri Cracker Barrel over Craigslist Ad Seeking to Beat & Rape His 11 Year Old Daughter … Charged with Statutory Sodomy

OH DEAR GOD!!!

32 year old Anthony Brinkman of Cuba, Missouri was arrested at a Cracker Barrel after having solicited on Craig’s List an undercover police officer to rape and beat his 11 year old daughter while he watched. Not only did this POS put an ad on Craig’s List, he actually brought his daughter to the Cracker Barrel for the meet up.  Thank God it was an undercover officer!  As St. Louis County Detective Mike Slaughter said at the press conference on Monday, “If we hadn’t gotten involved and someone bad had gotten in touch with him, something bad would have happened to that little girl.” It is not known whether the 11 year old girl had been previously sexually assaulted by Brinkman, however, a further investigation is underway. Police have seized Brinkman’s computers and are awaiting the results of a forensic analysis. Anthony Brinkman is charged with attempted statutory sodomy and he is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

An undercover officer posing as a 27-year-old woman then responded to Brinkman. He told her he wanted the woman to be his girlfriend as well as participate with him in sexually assaulting the child with sex toys, Slaughter said. He also said he wanted her to help find a boyfriend for the child, Slaughter said.

Thankfully, some one had contacted  the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that Brinkman had posted the Craigslist ad. Personally, I would like to know why Craig’s List is not supposed to police their own websites.

From The Raw Story:

A Missouri father was arrested last week after he showed up at a Cracker Barrel to meet an undercover officer who he had contacted on Craigslist about beating and raping his 11-year-old daughter.

At a press conference on Monday, St. Louis County Detective Mike Slaughter said that it took a lot to shock detectives who investigate Internet predators, but they just couldn’t believe it when 32-year-old Anthony Brinkman came to the restaurant with the young girl that he expected them to assault.

“It’s just a lot of talk for most of these guys, but this guy actually brought (the girl) to the scene to go ahead with the next step of enacting it,” Slaughter explained. “If we hadn’t gotten involved and someone bad had gotten in touch with him, something bad would have happened to that little girl.”

I guess it is not just food stamps that are for sale on Craig’s List these days.

Edwin R. Hall Pleads Guilty to kidnapping, Raping, Sodomizing and Murdering Kelsey Smith

18 year old Kelsey Smith had gone missing on June 2, 2007. She had been abducted and forced into a car according to reports. Kelsey Smith’s body was later found four days later and 26 year old Edwin R. Hall was arrested on charges of first degree murder and kidnapping.

Justice for Kelsey Smith, May She Rest in Peace

Finally justice has been served for Kelsey Smith. Edwin R. Hall has plead guilty to kidnapping, raping and sodomizing her and then strangling Kelsey Smith with her own belt. Edwin R. Hall will now spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. At least there is one less predator off the streets that will never kill again. In the end the surprise guilty plea by Hall and the plea deal that was made was probably for the best outcome for the family of Kelsey Smith. They have lost their loved one, why would anyone want to have to hear what happened all over again and a defense attorney attempting to make Hall the victim. Also, now that there is no death penalty on the table, there will be no appeals. Edwin R. Hall gets to spend the rest of his life in anonymity in prison so that no one ever has to hear his name again.

As Hall stood and said “guilty” to each of the charges — capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape and aggravated sodomy — Missey Smith clutched pictures of her slain daughter.

When Hall said “guilty” the first time, she collapsed on the shoulder of her husband, Greg. After the fourth time, the two hugged and cried.

District Judge Peter Ruddick plans to sentence Hall on Sept. 16. The 27-year-old Olathe man will spend his life in prison with no chance of parole.

After the pleas, District Attorney Phill Kline laid out the evidence he would have presented at a trial. Smith’s DNA was found on a stain inside the zipper flap of Hall’s shorts. The chance that the DNA was anyone but Smith’s was one in over 280 billion.

Kline obtained the plea by taking the death penalty off the table. Hall also has waived all of his appeal rights, Kline said.

Edwin R. Hall will never be a free men ever again.

What makes this crime even more reprehensible than it already was that 26 year old Edwin R. Hall, at the time, thought he was going to commit these heinous acts against a 12 year old girl. In other words, Hall was not just a sex offender, his intent was to be a child sex offender.

“Nice legs,” Hall thought when he noticed the girl who had graduated from high school 10 days before.

When she turned and he saw her face, he thought she looked liked a 12-year-old. It was early in the evening of June 2, 2007. He narrowed in.

Man Pleads Guilty to Rape, Murder of Kelsey Smith

UPDATE I: ‘See No Evil’ … Investigation Discovery Channel Premieres Tonight with Episode on the 2007 Abduction & Murder of Overland Park Teenager Kelsey Smith (VIDEO)