The proposed legislation would require ISPs to report to a designated agency on tips they receive about websites where child pornography is available. They would also have to notify the police if the ISP believes a child porn offence has been committed using their Internet service.

Similar legislation is already in place in the United States.

Child rights advocates have long lobbied for the measure. Canada is the world’s second largest home to online child pornography and the second-largest online seller of child pornography material, such as images, videos or memberships.

According to the Canadian Centre for Child protection, about half of all child pornography images feature children under the age of eight and nearly a third of those images feature serious sexual assaults.

“We know what’s going on out there on the Internet. we know that everyone who has a sexual interest in children is out there as well. There just need to be rules how we can protect our children,” child advocate Rosalind Prober told CTV News.

However, some advocates say the legislation doesn’t go far enough to stop the rapid spread of child pornography online.

“This legislation — in fairness to the ISPs — only obliges them to report if they are aware. So there is a huge volume of traffic that they can not be aware of that is child abuse image-related,” David Butt of the Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance said.

While the larger ISP providers control about 80 per cent of the Canadian market, the remaining 20 per cent is spread out over about 400 ISPs.

The Kids’ Internet Safety Alliance says the larger ISPs often cooperate with the police and it is the smaller ISPs the legislation is aimed at.

The bill is expected to pass with near unanimous support from the House of Commons.

With a report from CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and Omar Sachedina

see video at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091122/child_legislation_091122/20091122?hub=TopStoriesV2

Wrenshall, a Canadian citizen living in Thailand, was arrested at London’s Heathrow International Airport early this morning by London’s Metropolitan Police Service (MET) with agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A provisional arrest warrant had been issued for Wrenshall through coordination with British officials, MET, ICE and the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. Wrenshall is being detained pending extradition from the United Kingdom.

“ICE investigates sex tourism aggressively with the help of our international offices and law enforcement partners,” said Matthew J. Etre, acting special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Newark, NJ. “This case demonstrates our international resolve to ensure that those who prey on our children do not go unpunished.”

A grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned an indictment against Wrenshall on Aug. 25, 2008. Wrenshall is charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in sex tourism, two counts of aiding and abetting sex tourism, one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, seven counts of production of child pornography, and seven counts of distribution of child pornography. The charges stem from Wrenshall’s alleged involvement with U.S. citizens who traveled to Thailand to sexually abuse children and produce visual depictions of that abuse. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of sex tourism, a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of child pornography production, and up to 15 years in prison for distribution of child pornography. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 per count.

According to the unsealed indictment and court documents, Wrenshall had frequent access to Thai boys, some as young as 6 years old, at his Thailand home. As charged in the indictment, from at least as early as May 2000, Wrenshall helped arrange trips to his home during which U.S. citizens and others paid Wrenshall to engage in sexual acts with the boys, sometimes for weeks at a time. Wrenshall’s customers were allowed to videotape and photograph their abuse. An indictment is merely a charge and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by ICE and INTERPOL.

Colliton insisted he wasn’t running from the law and had gone to Canada only to attend some harness races.

“You’re not a fugitive if you sign into a major chain hotel using your driver’s license and your American Express card,” he said.

In his suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Colliton says Canadian authorities would never have “falsely arrested” or “unlawfully detained” him on immigration charges if American Express hadn’t revealed when and where he had used his credit card.

“That’s not why I gave them 20 years of fees and thousands of dollars in profits,” he said. “They spied on me.”

We’re not lawyers, but we’re pretty sure convicted felons lose their right to moral indignation or the right to vote or something.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that if you’re an indicted pedaphile on the run, don’t use American Express.

Ex-con sues AmEx, says it aided in his arrest in Grimsby, Ont. [The Canadian Press]
Ratted out by American Express, charges perv attorney [New York Daily News]

Montreal police Sergeant Detective Marco Breton tells CJAD News two five-year-old girls were approached by a man who showed them kiddie porn pictures including video camera images of him masturbating. It happened at the corner of Mountain Sights and Ferrier at about 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 20.

Breton says one of the girls’ mothers noticed what was going on and detained him with the help of the other mom and a neighbour until police arrived. He put up a fight, pushing one person and hitting another. He also allegedly tried to erase the pictures and get rid of the photos by throwing them under a parked car.

Robert Knight faces charges of possession and distribution of child porn and a charge of assault. He’s being held without bail and returns to court this fall.

The police are asking for the public’s help in finding any possible victims.

Knight  speaks English, is about six feet tall, 190 pounds, with a shaved head and blue eyes.

Breton says they have reason to believe there could be other victims and asks anyone with information about the suspect or any possible victim to call Info-Crime at 514-393-1133.