Expert says Internet-based child sexual exploitation leaves
a digital footprint
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."
