Quote:Mystery girl in child porn case found safe
CTV.ca News Staff

A girl who has been the object of a continent-wide child pornography investigation has been found safe.

The girl, now 15, has been located in Pittsburgh.

The man who police believe responsible for taking the pictures is serving a 15-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison -- but no further details about the alleged perpetrator were released.

"All of the investigators are really happy she is safe," Jamie Zuiebeck, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Associated Press on Friday.

"This has been a continuing effort to look at all the available resources to try and identify her."

A match was made Thursday in a law enforcement database of child pornography, officials said.

The girl first gained international attention in February when Toronto police released a photo of a hotel room where they believed she'd been assaulted. The girl's image had been digitally removed.

Within hours, tips started pouring in.

Police traced the hotel room to a resort in Orlando, Fla.

Eventually, the Toronto police, the FBI, the Orange County, Fla. sheriff's office and the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were all involved in the search.

Several weeks ago, a second photo of a young girl who police believed may have known the victim was released to the media. She was seen on a couch that had been identified in photos of the abuse victim.

Police hoped identifying the one girl would lead them to the victim.

Sources told CTV Toronto that the second photo quickly led to further tips which allowed U.S. authorities to find the girl.

A frustrating investigation

Police had been watching the blonde girl appear in a series of pornographic photos since she was approximately nine years old.

About 200 explicit photos of her have circulated on the Internet for at least three years.

They had considered releasing non-pornographic images of her, but ruled it out. They were concerned about privacy violations, but were also worried it could spur her abuser to violent action.

This case also points to a larger problem.

Police believe there are more than 50,000 children worldwide who have been exploited by child pornographers, their images appearing in vile photographs and videos on the Internet. But only about 500 of those kids have been identified.

With files from The Associated Press