There has been a global crackdown on Kidflix which is a child exploitation platform with almost two-million users that has led to an arrest in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation investigation was part of Operation Stream which was supported by Europol and led by the State Criminal Police of Bavaria and the Bavarian Central Office for the Prosecution of Cybercrime.
Over 35 countries worldwide participated. A news release from the ICE Unit indicates a total of 1.8 million users worldwide logged on to the platform between April 2022 and March 2025. Last month on March 11th, the server, which contained around 72,000 videos, was seized by German and Dutch authorities.
The Europol-supported operation led to 79 arrests and the identification of almost 1,400 suspects from around the world. The Saskatchewan ICE Unit was alerted two months ago, in February, that there was a Kidflix user in Regina. A search warrant was executed last Thursday where several electronic devices were examined and 23-year-old Edmund James Bellegarde Jr. was charged with Possession of Child Pornography and Accessing Child Pornography.
The investigation started in 2022 and so far, has led to 1,393 suspects identified, 79 suspects arrested, over 3,000 electronic devices seized, and 39 children protected. A news release from Europol indicated Kidflix was created in 2021 by a cybercriminal. Officials say 91,000 unique videos were uploaded and shared on the platform while it was active and on average around 3.5 new videos were uploaded to the platform every hour. Europol says many of the new videos were previously unknown to law enforcement. Users could download as well as stream video files and made payments using cryptocurrencies which were then converted into tokens.
Europol’s Executive Director says, in a news release, that the digital dimension not only offers offenders a borderless platform to contact and groom victims but also to create, store and exchange child sexual abuse material. Catherine De Bolle says, “Some attempt to frame this as merely a technical or cyber issue – but it is not. There are real victims behind these crimes, and those victims are children. As a society we must protect our children.”
Edmund James Bellegarde Jr. was released on a number of conditions and his next court appearance will be on May 14, 2025 in Regina.
