(OTTAWA) Online child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse increased in Canada from 2014 to 2020, according to a compilation of data released Thursday by Statistics Canada. These figures include a slight increase in the first year of the pandemic.
Updated yesterday at 10:29 p.m.
For example, in 2020, the overall rate of online child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse incidents was 131 per 100,000 children and young people, compared to 50 per 100,000 six years earlier. .
Police reported a total of 10,739 incidents of online sexual offenses against children during this period and 29,028 involving online child pornography. An incident is reported as an online sexual offense if the police have identified the child involved or as online child pornography if not.
Rates of online child sexual exploitation and abuse rose in the first year of the health crisis as part of an overall rise in cybercrime, Statistics Canada said. Child pornography crime rates were about a third higher in 2020 than in 2019, while the rate of child luring offenses increased by 22%.
Dalhousie University law professor emeritus Wayne MacKay said the “staggering” numbers raise concerns about the changing nature of child sex crimes.
Although better monitoring of cybercrime may have explained some of the increase over the study period, research has suggested that online child sexual abuse often goes unreported, Mr. MacKay.
“The message from this data is pretty clear: we still have a significant problem with cybercrime and the sexual exploitation of children,” MacKay said. This is obviously not acceptable, especially when […] you look at the devastating consequences of the victims for whom it changes their lives. »
Statistics Canada, however, indicated that although the number of crimes of this nature may be on the rise, part of the increase may also be due to the fact that police officers are better trained to detect these crimes and that victims are more willing to report them.
From 2014 to 2020, child luring accounted for 77% of online child sex offenses where a victim was identified, followed by non-consensual distribution of intimate images, which stands at 11%. and invitation to sexual touching, at 8%. Of the child pornography cases, 68% involved the production or distribution of child pornography.
The federal agency observed that in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, police-reported cybercrime increased by 31% compared to 2019. Meanwhile, there was an overall drop in police-reported crime rates, including sexual assault, after several years of increases.
Data indicates that 73% of victims of child sexual exploitation and online sexual violence were girls between the ages of 12 and 17, and 13% were girls under the age of 12.
On the other hand, 91% of the alleged perpetrators of online child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children were men and boys: 35% of them were between 25 and 44 years old, 20% were between 18 and 24 years old, and 18% were 45 years old and over.
For online child sex offences, the accused were more likely to be identified as strangers and casual acquaintances. However, the relationship between the victim and the accused varied depending on the type of offense and the people involved.
In nearly half of cases of non-consensual distribution of intimate images, the perpetrator was identified as an intimate partner or friend, according to the report. More than two-thirds of the accused were boys between the ages of 12 and 17 and 22% were girls of the same age.
Statistics Canada reported that such phenomena were expected, as the lockdown introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had the effect of reducing the chances of crimes being committed in person. In contrast, the increase in time spent online during the pandemic may have increased the opportunities for committing crimes online.
Finally, Statistics Canada observed that a small number of child pornography cases were solved by the police.