Toronto police say an international child sex abuse investigation has resulted in 153 arrests, including 16 arrests in Canada and seven in Toronto.

The investigation, dubbed “Project Mercury,” began in 2014 and was a partnership between the Toronto Police Service, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom, Homeland Security and numerous other police agencies around the world, which identified multiple live-streams of child sex abuse. As a result of the investigation, a dozen children were rescued.

Police say the alleged victims were as young as 10 months old.

“It’s important that people understand that this is happening to children all over the world. They are not only being sexually abused, there are also permanent recordings of this abuse being distributed by people around the world for their sick perversion,” said Toronto police Staff Supt. Myron Demkiw in a press conference Thursday.

Arrests made in Canada included seven in Toronto along with other arrests in Ottawa, Edmonton, Belleville, Thunder Bay, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Saskatoon.

In 2014 the NCA discovered an online group allegedly involved in child sex abuse. Toronto police were notified after one suspect was found to be a resident of the city. The man, identified in an undercover investigation as Mark Leonard, 41, of Toronto, has since been convicted.

Toronto police Det. Const. Janelle Blackadar said the undercover investigation resulted in other suspects being identified who used social media platforms to share and engage in child pornography, one of which was a live-stream of a sexual abuse of a 6-year-old. The alleged abuser was identified as a Pennsylvania resident. The child was rescued after the suspect was arrested.

In March 2016 Toronto police also discovered “child abuse material” of a sexual assault of an 8-year-old. Blackadar said the offender was inviting others to engage in the abuse by drugging the child with narcotics. The offender was identified as Kenneth Bowman, 34, of Saskatoon who pleaded guilty to a number of child sex abuse charges.

Arrests were also made throughout the U.S. as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Slovenia.

With files from The Canadian Press