Cdn child-porn fighter praises Bill Gates
Canadian Press
Thursday, March 16, 2006
MCLEAN, Va. -- Canada's top sex-crimes officer Paul Gillespie of the Toronto Police Service's Sex Crimes Unit has finally met the man who helped Canada develop an elite pornography tracking system: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
The two spoke briefly before attending a seminar together Wednesday on new uses for technology in fighting crime and tackling other global problems, part of the huge company's two-day government leaders forum. "It was quite remarkable. It was an honour," said Gillespie, who e-mailed Gates in frustration in early 2003 and asked for help creating a tool to catch online pornographers.
"He's done an awful lot of good in the world," Gillespie said. "He recognizes that as much good as the Internet brings, it also brings the bad and Microsoft has to work closely with law enforcement."
Gates, recently named the richest man in the world by Forbes magazine for the 12th year in a row, has an estimated personal fortune of some $50 billion US.
He spends a lot of it on worthy causes like fighting AIDS and improving education through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
For his part, Gates had nothing but praise for Gillespie, who heads Toronto's 17-member child exploitation tracking unit.
"He's truly been a leader in protecting the safety of children online and convincing government, law enforcement and the private sector that we all need to work together to tackle this important problem," Gates said in a statement.
After Gillespie's e-mail, Microsoft Canada pumped $4.5 million Cdn into creating the Child Exploitation Tracking System, which was instrumental in a four-country pornography sting announced Wednesday by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Launched last April, CETS is housed at the National Child Exploitation Co-ordination Centre in Ottawa.
It contains information gathered from Canadian officers and international sources, allowing police to plug in an e-mail address, credit card number or even an Internet alias and see what related information there may be.
"It's not really rocket science," said Gillespie. "But it allows us to work with people all over the world."
Several countries are working on incorporating CETS, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Brazil and Indonesia.
"We'll be capable of plugging into each other. This is going to lead the way and the results will be tremendous.
"It will be, some day, the world's first child exploitation database."
The investigative tool has already helped in solving several cases, including the latest big sting leading to the arrest of 27 suspects, nine of them in Canada.
The case began in Edmonton after a woman overheard two children talking. She reported the conversation to police who arrested one man and used CETS to help lead them to others.
Police infiltrated a private Internet chat room used to trade images and videos of child molestations.
Seven victims have been identified. The youngest was less than 18 months old.
"Most offenders aren't satisifed with pictures anymore. They want full-length videos. I've seen children being tortured with romantic music playing in the background," said Gillespie.
"And these are not strangers. These are people who have worked themselves into a position of trust. That's the scary part."
Ten years ago, the Toronto sex crime squad would perhaps seize hundreds of photos a year. Last year, it was more than three million pictures and videos, about 90 per cent of them from western countries.
But it's tough keeping the issue on the front pages of newspapers and creating more awareness because many people don't want to confront it, said Gillespie.
"There's very few things you can tell people in modern society that will shock them. This is one of them. There are few things as soul destroying as child abuse."
But Gillespie can think of no better reason to collaborate with Microsoft.
He also credits Gates and his company with providing computer training to cops around the world.
"It was gratifying to meet him. I can't think of a better motivation to work together."
Meanwhile, the Toronto sex crimes squad announced Thursday that it had laid charges stemming from another case of online child exploitation.
The charges are unrelated to Wednesday's announcement of the dismantling of an international online child porn ring with links to Canada.
Twenty-seven-year-old Chou Eng (Charles) Fong, of Markham, Ontario, has been charged with luring a childunder 16, sexual assault and two counts of failing to comply with probation.
Det. Cst. Shawna Coxon of the Child Exploitation Unit listed the charges against Fong, who was allegedly introduced to a 15-year-old girl over Microsoft's instant messaging program, MSN Messenger, lured her into a meeting at a Toronto-area shopping mall, and subsequently went to her home the next day when he knew she would be alone.
Fong allegedly forced the 15-year-old into her bedroom where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
Following his arrest, police seized two computers and a number of CDs during a search of the suspect's home, although they did not indicate what the computers and CDs might have contained.
Microsoft's CETS system was not employed during this particular investigation.
Det. Cst. Coxon is requesting that anyone who many have known Fong (who goes by the MSN nickname "J" or "MJ") or know of any other victims to contact the Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit at +416-808-8500.
