A 16-year-old from Toronto is facing child pornography charges after nude photos of his former girlfriend were posted on a website.

The photos appeared on a teen-oriented website in February, shortly after the ex-girlfriend, now 16, complained to police that her former boyfriend had extorted money from her.

Police say the ex-boyfriend put the photos on the site and wrote a message impersonating his former girlfriend, making it seem as if it were her site.

The girl has missed several weeks of school and feels humiliated, said police.

Police can't get the website operator to take down the photos, which were taken with the girl's consent. She was 15 when the photos were taken.

Run by a U.S.-based company, the general-interest, teen-oriented site gets thousands of hits a day. Police say its operators are not being co-operative and are ignoring requests to remove the photos.

The boy has been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography and with impersonation with intent.