Expert says Internet-based child sexual exploitation leaves a digital footprint
London Free Press
November 18, 2008
Police can't win the battle against Internet-based child exploitation and abuse without the help of children, parents and, especially, Internet service providers, says one of Canada's leading investigative journalists.
"This is the crime of the 21st century," said Julian Sher, author of the best-selling One Child at a Time, before giving a talk in London to a major conference on child sexual abuse and exploitation on the Internet held at the Hilton Hotel.
"It's in everybody's living room, in the classroom and in the cafes . . . and it's not a battle police will ever win alone. Parents and children and caregivers have to become the first line of defence."
The four-day conference, organized by the Ontario Provincial Police, brings together hundreds of police officers, Crown attorneys and victim support service officials from across North America and Australia.
The goal is to exchange information on technology and techniques while developing a common strategy, OPP Det. Sgt. Frank Goldschmidt said.
"Our victims are children and we need to be there to rescue them."
In an interview before his talk, Sher said the "virtual world is the real world" for children using the Internet, not unlike a playground down the street.
The "good news" is that Internet-based child sexual exploitation and abuse is "not a hard crime to deal with," Sher said. "That's because it leaves a digital footprint. It's not some dark, mysterious crime we're dealing with."
Canada should follow England's lead in working with Internet service providers to set up a "911 button" children can push if they're being exploited, or lured, by a predator, he said.
"If we can develop a software to track people who download music illegally, we can develop software that will allow children to push a button for help to report abuse."
London police Chief Murray Faulkner said police around the world are working together to battle child sexual exploitation on the Internet, but parents have to do more.
"Parents are buying this high-tech equipment and letting kids go wild on it," said Faulkner. "And many of these parents don't even know how the Internet works. Because the Internet knows no boundaries, children are vulnerable around the world."
Faulkner said taxpayers shouldn't object to local officers being involved in investigations that cross international borders.
"There are people in this city who are exploiting children around the world, buying and downloading child pornography and joining live video websites," said Faulkner.
The problem for police, said Faulkner, is that child exploitation, such as Internet luring, is unlike thefts and assaults.
"It's a crime that's not reported to us, it's a crime being uncovered by police work," he said.
"In some cases, these are far more important investigations than some murders because these victims are alive and we can get to them before something happens. The future of the victim still lies ahead of them."