Project Frost Byte cracks down on social media sites sharing child porn

UPDATED: May 11, 2020

A woman and three men from Hamilton have been charged with child pornography offences. Hamilton police wrapped up a two-week investigation that focused on people who use social media platforms to share child porn. Police say the sexual exploitation of children on social media is common.

The investigation dubbed Project Frost Byte led to four arrests. Police saying the crimes took place on well known social networks.

Twenty-three-year-old Melanie Masters has been charged with five counts of possessing and distributing child porn. She is the only woman of the four people charged.

Nineteen-year-old Andrew Aguiar was charged with making child porn available and possessing child porn. Thirty-eight-year-old Adrian Huerta Perez was also charged with possessing child porn.

A 47-year-old Hamilton man was also arrested and charged with one count of child pornography but that charge was withdrawn by Hamilton police in January 2020.

Hamilton police are urging parents to be vigilant about what their kids are doing online so that children don’t come across child pornography or become lured into making child porn.

Police say while child porn is still shared on the dark web, social media sites are also commonly being used. Police say the accused are not known to each other.

Police say the explicit videos or images that were being shared online were of children who were not known to any of the accused.