AFP targets child abusers who travel abroad

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The AFP is providing the travel plans of convicted Australian child sex offenders to police partners overseas as part of a range of measures to protect vulnerable children from sexual predators.

The AFP-hosted INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Canberra actively shared information with foreign law enforcement partners on convicted and suspected child sex offenders in more than 700 cases last financial year. This included intelligence and investigative queries and alerts on registered or suspected child sex offenders travelling between countries.

About 300 of these information exchanges were alerts from the AFP and INTERPOL Canberra, warning of convicted Australian child sex offenders travelling overseas.

The travel records of Australians on the National Child Offenders System are reviewed by the AFP when they pass through Australian international airports.

If they travel to a country identified as a potential target for child sex offenders, or to a country that has requested to be informed about the travels of convicted criminals, AFP provides relevant data to INTERPOL for dissemination to law enforcement authorities in the destination country.

INTERPOL Green Notices are an important mechanism used to alert global partners to serious offenders who are likely to travel, and they help international law enforcement protect their communities. Green Notices cover a variety of serious offences, but 94 per cent of those issued in Australia involve child sex offenders.

Australia currently has over 900 active Green Notices registered with INTERPOL, the third highest number of any country in the world.

Preventing known Australian criminals from travelling to areas popular with predators is part of a regional effort to break the vicious circle of child sexual abuse, AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean said.

“Law enforcement and other organisations in the region do a lot of good work to address the reasons why children end up in these terrible situations, but this work can be undone by relatively wealthy Australian predators who are willing to pay for the opportunity to abuse a child,” he said.

“We owe it to our law enforcement partners and the children they protect to do our part. That means using the intelligence and experience of the AFP to provide information so our partners can make informed decisions about who to let into their countries.”

Australians registered on the National Child Offenders System with reporting obligations must obtain permission to travel overseas. However, the AFP can still inform INTERPOL partners of their destination, travel details and relevant details of previous offences.

People travelling to locations that have historically been targeted by child sex tourism face increased scrutiny from law enforcement. They are often stopped at immigration in their destination country, denied entry and returned to Australia on the next available flight.

“This is an insidious type of crime where prevention is far more important than any ‘cure’. The AFP is committed to working with our regional partners through INTERPOL to combat child abuse around the world, using all the resources at our disposal,” said Assistant Commissioner McLean.

INTERPOL head, Secretary General Juergen Stock, praised the work Australia is doing through INTERPOL to protect children worldwide.

“Australia is a leading player in international police cooperation and has consistently demonstrated a strong and unwavering commitment to protecting children both online and in the real world,” he said.

“In addition to its reliance on INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database, Australia is the third largest user of Green Notices, which alert other countries to known serious child sex offenders.”