Four Ontario men charged after child exploitation investigation

Police have arrested three Kitchener, Ontario men and one Cambridge, Ontario man after a child exploitation investigation between the OPP and Waterloo police.

The investigation, which took place from November 17 to November 19 and dubbed "Project Derby" involved six undercover police going into online chat rooms to flag the men for luring children for sexual purposes.

The men face a total of 13 charges.

Three of the men were arrested after arriving to a location set by police to meet a child for sexual purposes. The fourth man was arrested at a separate location.

Jason John MacLaughlin, 46, Roger Yvan Bellaire, 50, and Christopher M. Funston, 48, all of Kitchener, and Jonathan Charles Upsdell, 30, of Cambridge, have been charged with luring a person under 16.

MacLaughlin was also given charges of making child pornography, invitation to sexual touching, and uttering threats.

"We're seeing offenders get more savvy. They'll spend more time trying to reassure the kids and trying to lure them into situations that the kids shouldn't be getting themselves into," said OPP Det. Staff-Sgt. Brian McDermott.

"From the perspective of strategy, we wouldn't be as successful, we couldn’t do the work we do, without the dedication of all the agencies," McDermott said, according to the Cambridge Times.