Hudson at the Australian Centre for Child Exploitation offices in Brisbane. As offenders have moved online in greater numbers, Hudson says police have followed them, working more closely across with international counterparts by using virtual tools such as video conferencing. — AFP
BRISBANE, Australia: Out-of-school kids and adult predators spending more time at home and on the Internet during the coronavirus pandemic is the “perfect storm” driving a spike in online child sex abuse around the world, activists and police say.
From slums in the Philippines to Australia’s suburbs, the cross-border crime has mushroomed as offenders take advantage of school closures and lockdowns to reach children – either in person or via social media, gaming sites and the dark web.
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Hudson at the Australian Centre for Child Exploitation offices in Brisbane. As offenders have moved online in greater numbers, Hudson says police have followed them, working more closely across with international counterparts by using virtual tools such as video conferencing. — AFP
Out-of-school kids and adult predators spending more time at home and on the Internet during the coronavirus pandemic is the ‘perfect storm’ driving a spike in online child sex abuse around the world, activists and police say. — AFP
In recent months, Australian police arrested 15 men accused of producing or sharing child abuse material online and identified 46 alleged victims, including 16 at a single childcare centre. — AFP
In Australia, federal police received more than 21,000 reports of child sex abuse in the 12 months to June 30, an increase of over 7,000 cases on the previous year. — AFP
Hudson says police ‘directly attribute’ the ‘incredible influx’ – a 136% increase in online child sex exploitation material – to offenders and children spending more time at home because of lockdowns and school closures, with youngsters often left unsupervised as parents juggle work and care responsibilities. — AFP
‘Some of those dark web sites are actually crashing because they’re not coping with the amount of traffic,’ Hudson said. — AFP
