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RCMP centre now coordinating child porn cases

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CTV News: Lisa LaFlamme covers the child porn war
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Date: Tue. Oct. 5 2004 6:01 AM ET

The recent case of an Edmonton woman charged with distributing child pornography contains some disturbing elements. But it also shows the effectiveness of a new level of police cooperation.

It's an unusual case -- a 36-year-old woman being charged for making, possessing and distributing child pornography. Even more upsetting is that the images allegedly found on her computer include those of her six-year-old son.

However, according to Statistics Canada, 25 women were charged last year with child porn offences.

In an effort to battle child porn in Canada, the National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre has been created by the RCMP to handle the tips, coordinate files, and try and identify some of the victims.

Jennifer Strachan of the NCECC told CTV News that having one national centre makes it easier for international police agencies to report child exploitation.

"For Canada's international reputation, particularly in the law enforcement field, it's like one-stop shopping for all those other international police agencies," she said.

The centre is so new that workers are still unpacking. But they have already helped identify 19 victims. That is done by studying the background in an image or the clothing the person is wearing.

"Even if I had only one child coming back having been identified, then to me, that's enough," Strachan said.

"But just the fact that we have already got 19 victims, that law enforcement has saved, tells me that there's probably a lot more we could be working on."

The centre was involved in the arrest of the Edmonton woman, and connected her to a 56-year-old Ottawa man, who has also been arrested. Charges against him are pending.

"There's so many challenges to these files but very rewarding when we see a law enforcement agency like Edmonton, Toronto or Halifax police, when they actually save a child's life it's just really rewarding," said Strachan.

With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme

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