Hamilton man faces 100+ additional charges in child sex abuse case linked to Philippines

A Hamilton man faces more than 100 additional charges in a global investigation of the arranged livestreamed sexual abuse of children in the Philippines.

Toronto police said in a news conference Wednesday that customers around the world paid to watch abuse of children in the island country in “real time.”

Police allege that 42-year-old Stephen Tolys paid for and directed the abuse, which was streamed by a facilitator in the Philippines.

Authorities in the Philippines arrested the alleged facilitator and rescued four children in October 2025 after an investigation involving law enforcement agencies in numerous countries, including the Netherlands.

The arrests uncovered further information about Tolys, who had been under investigation for seven months.

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Tolys was arrested on March 25 of this year after a Toronto police search warrant in the area of Kenilworth Avenue North and Cannot Street East in Hamilton.

He was charged with allegedly accessing and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials and making arrangements for others to sexually assault minors.

Tolys is now facing more than 130 additional charges in the investigation, and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on July 31.

It is alleged that Tolys was using the following usernames on various social media platforms:

• Tupac101
• Steve101
• Steve-o
• Jumpinjacks666
• Mighty
• Mightymann66

Det. Michael Sabadin of Toronto police says investigators believe there are more than 50 victims yet to be identified.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Toronto police at 416-909-8500.