OTTAWA, Feb 12: A police sweep overnight nabbed 22 people in what authorities called on Tuesday Canada’s largest coordinated child pornography investigation ever.

The Ontario Provincial Police and 18 municipal police services from across the province took part in the probe that began in January, revealing computers here being used to swap images online of child abuse.

Twenty-five search warrants were executed in 16 communities across Ontario on Monday, including Toronto and Ottawa, resulting in 73 criminal charges of possession and distribution of child pornography being laid.

Detective Staff Sergeant Frank Goldschmidt, the Ontario police child pornography task force coordinator, said the arrests represented “the largest coordinated child pornography sweep in the history of Ontario”, and of Canada.

Twenty men, one woman, and one teen face charges in the case, officials said. Additional arrests are pending.

“Every image of child pornography represents the irrefutable evidence of a child being brutalized and it’s not just about impersonal abstract images,” Ontario police Commissioner Julian Fantino told reporters. “The exploitation of children by whatever means is appalling unconscionable and a particularly vile crime.” —AFP