Child sexual exploitation on the internet | ‘It just kept going up and up and up’

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

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

Between April 2023 and March 2024, the CNCEE received 118,162 complaints and reports concerning cases of sextortion, computer luring, non-consensual sharing 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). There were 52,000 in 2020-2021.

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

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

Subsequently, the statement said, the images circulate in online networks and are used to better control the young victims or to subject them to extortion maneuvers. Often, the tormentors are themselves minors. “The crimes occur 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 rate, laments M^me Sinclair: At CNCEE, all reports must be processed.

The RCMP is responsible for analyzing, investigating and then redistributing to provincial or municipal police forces that have the capacity to handle them the tens of thousands of files it receives from web companies, Interpol or foreign law enforcement agencies in particular.

Its investigators are also working to identify the young victims depicted in the photos and videos brought to their attention, which involves analyzing in detail sometimes unbearably violent images to find clues.

In 2023-2024, 568 new Canadian victims seen in child sexual abuse material were found by the sleuths. The images were added to INTERPOL’s international database on the sexual exploitation of children, which contains 38,000 victims and nearly 5 million photos and videos, so that police forces around the world are aware of their existence and can access them as part of their investigations.

Offenders ‘progress’

Corporal Stephen Ludlow was an investigator with the team until recently. He sees how cyber predators are honing their techniques in hopes of slipping through the cracks.

“They’re smart. And they’re in it for life,” Sinclair says of the offenders. “Once they start, they progress and they keep progressing.”

Facing them are investigators who are confronted every day with the worst of humanity. “People who come here, they stay here for several years and then they leave,” says M^me Sinclair. That’s what they have to do. The impacts stay with them forever.”

A heavy workload

Last spring, The Press was granted rare access to the CNCEE offices in Ottawa. At first glance, it looks like any office tower, with its neon lighting and partitioned workspaces. Except that here, the screens serve less to preserve the tranquility of those who work there 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]”It’s that you actually see the crime happening in front of you. Whereas usually we’re responding to a crime that we don’t actually see happening,” said Corporal Ludlow.

At the CNCEE, all employees undergo a psychological assessment before joining the team “to ensure that they are able to endure the images” to which they will be exposed as part of their work, explains Maxime St-Fleur, the officer in charge. “The [traumatisme] “The result of viewing some of these images will affect you for the rest of your life,” he said.

The impact doesn’t just come from the images, adds M.^me Sinclair. [Notre équipe] is aware that this is happening everywhere and on a large scale. Once you work in this field, you can’t forget it. When we encounter obstacles, like lack of staff or things like that, it becomes even more difficult. When you are told, “Sorry, we don’t have the resources to do this,” [notre équipe] knows what’s going on [en ligne]. It increases the negative effects.”

In the office, posters with phrases of hope, decorations and plants lighten the atmosphere. A reading and resting corner has been set up near the windows overlooking the parking lot.

“We have mental health recommendations on what to do to mitigate exposure or how to set your own limits on how much you watch. There are things you can do, like read a report that doesn’t have images, for example. 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 tools are also being used. Filters are superimposed on photos and videos to soften their effect, for example by showing them in black and white rather than in colour, and software periodically suggests that employees take a break, explains Corporal Philippe Gravel, an investigator with the Centre’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 get home at their regular time or whether they work overtime. It’s a very difficult world to work in.”