Although Canada's top child pornography detective turned in his badge this week, he is gearing up for a global battle against online predators.

Paul Gillespie, who brought Toronto's sex crimes unit to international acclaim during his six-year tenure, resigned his post Wednesday.

"I've seen enough of the images in the movies to the point that I do believe it was starting to affect me and I wanted to take the fight to a larger stage," Gillespie told CTV Newsnet Friday.

Under Gillespie, the Toronto child-exploitation unit's computerized tracking methods set trends in the hunt for online exploiters.

Now he wants to share his insight and his sophisticated tracking system with police departments around the world.

"Help other officers understand the problem, technology and to get everybody working together," Gillespie said.

He also plans to open a world-class training centre in Toronto to share his methods with investigators from developing nations.

He hopes to accomplish this by working with the non-profit Kids' Internet Safety Association (KINSA). He also approached Ottawa about matching private sector donations.

Gillespie entered the international spotlight in 2003 after Bill Gates replied to his e-mail about the problem of Internet child abuse.

Rather than just a sympathetic reply, Gillespie eventually procured $10-million commitment from Microsoft to help police track sex-crimes perpetrators.

Together they designed software that acts as an intelligence database and allows information to be easily shared.

According to Gillespie, the lack of communication between law enforcement agencies around the world is a major problem.

"We don't really share information and work together, thus we don't rescue as many of these poor children as we should be," he said.

However, he is hopeful that wider implementation of this new software will improve information sharing.

The tracking system is currently up and running in seven different countries and will likely expand, especially after Microsoft's recently invested several more millions into the program.

While Gillespie will be missed as a public figure in Toronto, he is confident in the team he leaves behind.

"I'm very proud of the people I work with -- a tremendous team."