2024 – Sexual exploitation of children online

The explosion in cases of online child sexual exploitation that began during the COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of slowing down. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have received a record number of reports again this past year, according to figures obtained by The press. Faced with daily horrors, the members of the team of the National Coordination Centre against Child Exploitation (CNCEE) work under “extreme pressure”. As an exception, they have agreed to open their doors to us.

“The number of reports continues to increase. If you compare it to numbers from 10 years ago, it’s just gone up, up, up,” warns Roberta Sinclair, the center’s strategic policy and research manager.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, the CNCEE received 118,162 complaints and reports of cases of sextortion, computer luring, non-consensual exchange of intimate images, distribution, production or possession of child pornography and other crimes of this type. An increase of 15% compared to the same period the previous year (103,000). In 2020-2021, it was 52,000.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, with young people glued to their screens and their parents often busy at work, cases in the country skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Screen-watching habits never returned to normal.

Police are seeing it all. On Tuesday, the RCMP issued a press release warning of violent groups that “target youth online with the intent to induce them to film or livestream acts of self-harm, animal torture, suicide attempts, or produce child abuse material.”

Then, the statement said, the images circulate in online networks and are used to better control the young victims or to subject them to extortion tactics. Often, the tormentors themselves are minors. “The crimes take place on gaming or social media platforms and mobile applications popular with young people, such as Roblox, Minecraft, Twitch or Telegram.

Lack of resources

The meteoric rise in cases is putting enormous pressure on law enforcement, whose numbers have not increased at the same pace, M laments^me Sinclair: At CNCEE, all reports have to be processed.

The RCMP is responsible for analyzing, investigating and then redistributing the tens of thousands of files it receives from Internet companies, Interpol or, most notably, foreign law enforcement agencies to provincial or municipal police departments that have the capacity to process the files.

Investigators are also working to identify the young victims depicted in the photos and videos, which requires them to closely analyze the sometimes unbearably violent images for clues.

In 2023-2024, sleuths identified 568 new Canadian victims who had been seen in child pornography. The images were added to INTERPOL’s international database on child sexual exploitation, which contains 38,000 victims and nearly 5 million photos and videos, so that law enforcement agencies around the world are aware of their existence and have access to them as part of their investigations.

Perpetrators ‘move forward’

Corporal Stephen Ludlow, a researcher with the team until recently, has seen cyberpredators hone their techniques in the hopes of slipping through the net.

“They’re smart. And they’re in it their whole lives,” Sinclair says of the offenders. “Once they start, they progress, and they continue to progress.”

Opposite them are researchers who are confronted with the worst of humanity every day. “People who come here, stay here for a number of years and then they leave,” says M^me Sinclair. That’s what they have to do. The impact will stay with them forever.”

A heavy workload

Last spring, The press was granted rare access to CNCEE’s Ottawa offices. At first glance, it looks like an office tower, with its neon lights and segregated work spaces. Except that the screens here serve less to keep those who work there calm than to protect others from overexposure to the photos and videos that already fill their daily lives.

Those who work here often witness crimes firsthand. “There are very few types of crimes where you see the crime happening before you investigate it, and that’s one of the big differences (avec d’autres unités d’enquête)” is that you actually see the crime happening in front of you. Whereas most of the time we’re responding to a crime that we don’t actually see happening,” Corporal Ludlow said.

At CNCEE, all employees undergo psychological assessment before joining the team “to ensure they can tolerate the images” they are exposed to as part of their work, explains Maxime St-Fleur, the officer in charge. “The (traumatism) “The result of watching some of these images will affect you for the rest of your life,” he said.

The impact doesn’t just come from the images, M. adds.^me Sinclair. (Our team) knows that this is happening everywhere and on a massive scale. Once you’re in this business, you can’t forget it. When we have obstacles, like lack of staff or something like that, it gets even harder. When you’re told, “Sorry, we don’t have the resources to do this,” (our team) knows what’s going on (online). It magnifies the negative effects.”

In the office, posters with hopeful texts, decorations and plants create a cheerful atmosphere. A reading and rest corner has been set up by the windows overlooking the parking lot.

“We have mental health recommendations on what you can do to limit your exposure or how you can set your own limits on how much you watch. There are things you can do, like read a report without the images. We encourage the mental health aspect, going to the gym, taking breaks,” says Corporal Krista Mckillop, who has been here for 10 years. “I’ve found a balance,” she says.

Technological aids are also used. Filters are placed over photos and videos to soften their effects, for example by showing them in black and white instead of color, and software periodically suggests that workers take a break, explains Corporal Philippe Gravel, a researcher with the Center’s technical team.

“On the other hand,” Sinclair notes, “they feel that if they don’t continue to do their jobs, children will not be identified and children will continue to be sexually exploited. It affects their vacations, it affects their work hours, it affects whether they come home at their normal time or work overtime. It’s a very difficult world to work in.”