Kinsa’s Vision is to create a global safety net that protects every child everywhere from online exploitation. Our mission is to protect, rescue and heal child victims of abuse whose images are shared on the Internet. 

On Thursday, April 14th the Kinsa team gathered with 160 friends and supporters to recognize a group of organizations and people instrumental in the rescue of more than 30 children.

We call them Heroes of the Fight – supporters who help protect kids from situations of abuse and sexual exploitation. This year’s honourees include police officers from Toronto and Edmonton and government officials from both Canada and the U.S., reflecting the need for collaboration across jurisdictions to effectively combat this insidious crime.

This year’s honourees were all instrumental in the execution of Project Wickerman, an international investigation that began in May 2005 in Edmonton and ended with charges against 27 people in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain. One of the largest stings of its kind, Project Wickerman also resulted in the rescue of many children – beyond a doubt, the best possible reward for years of work uncovering this international ring.

Four police officers received a Kinsa Hero Award for this work – they are Randy Wickins, Edmonton Police Services, Ron Wolflick, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Paul Krawczyk and Scott Purches from Toronto Police Services. Kinsa also awarded U.S. Immigration and Customs itself as a leader in global investigations as well as Jim Stephenson, Ontario Office for Victims of Crime and the Honourable Laurel Broten, Minister of Children and Youth Services.

While we recognize partners from both sides of our border, I remain very proud of our made-in-Canada operations in tracking child pornography. We're the best in the world simply because of our great people, the Microsoft funded Child Exploitation Tracking System, and the intelligence data base that we've built and shared with law enforcement agencies around the world.

On behalf of Kinsa, and Heroes of the Fight sponsor Microsoft, I thank each of our honourees and encourage everyone to find a way to help take up the fight by visiting us at www.kinsa.net.  

Paul Gillespie

Kinsa

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