I'll give you a bit of background.

IJM has worked in the Philippines for several years. We've traditionally worked in traditional sex-trafficking cases, typically the exploitation of minors and trafficked women in commercial sex establishments. We found there was a great deterrent effect that resulted when law enforcement was able to respond well to these cases, such that, as I mentioned in our piece, there was a drastic reduction in the prevalence of children in the commercial sex industry.

At the invitation of the Philippines' national government, we were invited to partner with the Philippine National Police and other local law enforcement authorities to address the online sexual exploitation of children.

One thing that's always important for us to remember is that these are real children being abused in real time by perpetrators on the other side of a camera. Very often, these perpetrators are directing the abuse. It is being live-streamed. They are capturing the images and very often saving these images to their laptops. The live stream can be streamed to several perpetrators across many different countries. In cases that IJM has taken on, the abuse has been streamed quite often to western countries. Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Australia have often been found here.

Member Anderson, the case you referenced was that of a Saskatchewan man who was exploiting children in the Philippines online. It was a 27-year-old individual. He was being investigated by the RCMP; as a result, there were images of these children in the Philippines found on his home computer. The case was referred to the Philippines authorities.

IJM, in collaboration with local law enforcement authorities, was able to rescue nine children between the ages of two and nine years old. Those children are currently safe in aftercare homes. It was that Saskatchewan man who had been abusing them online. He has been sentenced to 12 years in jail, which I believe is the longest sentence that's been handed down in Saskatchewan for a non-contact crime. Previously, an eight-year sentence was the longest sentence handed out.

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