ORLANDO, Fla. – Internet child porn photos showing a girl being victimized were taken at a Walt Disney World (search) hotel, authorities said after making a public appeal for tips to figure out the location.
Canadian investigators took the unusual step of publicly releasing six photos last week, removing the girl's image, with hopes of identifying what they thought was a warm-climate hotel setting.
Tips came suggesting the room was a Disney World property, and that was ultimately confirmed.
"Disney has been very cooperative," said Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (search) office. "Now we're trying to narrow down the timeframe and narrow down various aspects of the case."
The photos show a blond girl, age around 9, being abused at various locations, including a hotel room, an arcade, a hot tub and an elevator. Police believe the photos were taken about three years ago. Other pornographic photos of the same girl in a different location appear to be more recent, Zuieback said.
The Toronto Police Service Child Exploitation Section (search) investigators discovered the pictures while monitoring a public newsgroup on the Internet.
Toronto police Sgt. Paul Gillespie said investigators believe the girl's abuser is a close family member. Clues from other photos suggest the child may live in the northeastern United States or southeastern Canada.
"The biggest current aspect of the investigation is to try to identify, number one, who the individual is who produced the pornography and number two, try to rescue the girl," Zuieback said.
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