Child porn probe releases photo of witness

Toronto and Florida police have released the photo of a young girl they believe to be a material witness in a child pornography investigation.

They hope people can help them identify the girl. And once they do that, they hope to identify a young girl who they say is being exploited by child pornographers.

"We've worked tirelessly to identify the victim and have been unable to do so," Lt. Matt Irwin of the Orange County police dept. told a news conference in Orlando, Fla. on Wednesday.

In February, police released a series of pornographic photos that had been posted online in 2001, but digitally altered them to remove the pre-teen's image.

Police hoped the public could identify where the photos were taken.

The strategy paid off. Tips came in that helped them find the hotel, located in a popular Orlando-area resort.

In this latest photo, the witness is portrayed sitting on a couch reading a pink piece of paper.

"There is no evidence the (second) girl is a victim in any way," Irwin said. "There is nothing sexual about it. There is nothing illegal in the manner in which the photos were taken."

Irwin said the couch is also in an image of the child who has been abused.

"So she has been on the same furniture in the same room, and quite possibly knows the person who photographed the victim in our case," he said.

The hope is that identifying the one girl might help lead them to the other -- a little girl they believe has been abused for years.

Police say they have been watching the girl in the photos since she was approximately nine years old, and estimate her current age at 12- or 13-years old.

"We have also recently found a website that has now posted our victim child publicly on that website," Irwin said, adding the website is now shut down.

Her abuser, they believe, could be a close family member or trusted guardian.

But they've had little more to go on, other than her blond hair and the likelihood she lives in southeast Canada or the northeastern United States.

"We've learned nothing in the last two months that has changed our mind on that," said Det. Sgt. Paul Gillespie, adding the photos were taken three to four years ago.

Finding other victims

Investigators have long considered releasing non-pornographic pictures of the victim in the photos released last February. But privacy concerns and worries that doing so could spur the abuser to deadly violence have so far stopped them.

Even the digitally altered photos released earlier this year have had their negative consequences, Gillespie said, but investigators are determined to use whatever advantage they can.

"Since this story broke, there's been a feeding frenzy in certain parts of the Internet. The bad guys can't get enough of this series and are seeking more of it," Gillespie told CTV's Canada AM in an interview from Orlando.

By monitoring the activity online, he said, detectives found the picture they just released.

Police estimate there are more than 50,000 children who have been exploited in Internet pornography. But only 500 have been identified.

"We have to do better," Gillespie said. "Does that mean we have to start getting a little more aggressive? Absolutely."

In terms of going the next step and identifying victims, Gillespie said: "If you had pictures of a child that you knew was being held hostage and tortured, and we had it within our means to rescue that child, if that child was related to you, would you want the police to run in and kick the door down and save that child, even though that might notify her friends or neighbors or family that's who she is?"

That, Gillespie says, is the bigger dilemma behind this tragic case.

NOTE: The police have set up a tip line. The number is 1-866-635-HELP (4357). There is a reward of up to $5,000 US.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Jim Junkin.