“Report shows 40% rise in online child abuse”, Irish Examiner
Cormac O’Keefe, Security Correspondent, Dublin, October 06, 2018
The sharp increase has been accompanied by a worsening in the severity of images and a lowering in the age of victims.
The Hotline.ie annual report for 2017 said that just over half of the images they analysed show sexual activity between adults and children, including rape and sexual torture.
The public reporting system, operated by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland, shows there were:
- 7,591 reports of suspected illegal content in 2017 — 5,789 involving child sexual abuse or child sexual exploitation and 1,802 reports of financial scams, racism, and xenophobia
- This compares to 7,141 reports of illegal content in 2016 and 3,153 in 2015
- Of the child sexual abuse imagery (CSAI) reports examined, 524 constituted child sexual abuse as defined by law — compared to 365 in 2016 and 327 in 2015
- 5,809 of the remaining reports were not illegal, with more than 3,000 involving adult pornography
The report said the 524 confirmed cases of CSAI were referred to the gardaí for further investigation. It said most cases involve hundreds or thousands of images and/or videos.
The report’s findings follow a third phase of Operation Ketch this week, involving searches of 32 premises across 12 counties, in relation to the possession of online child abuse material.
Over the three phases of Operation Ketch this year, gardaí have identified more than 100 suspects and seized possibly millions of images.
Hotline.ie manager Ana Niculescu said that it received and processed more reports in 2017 than ever before, and identified 44% more child abuse content than in 2016, with the images and videos found having increased in their severity.
The percentage of images and videos showing children aged between 0 and 12 rose from 71% in 2016 to 79% last year. Of these, 6% are aged 0 to 3 years of age.
The report said almost half of the videos assessed appear to be self-generated by the child.
We know it is difficult for most people to conceptualise that adults may have sexual interest in children, that child sexual abuse may be happening in the family context, or the very nature and gravity of self-generated child sexual abuse imagery which, unfortunately, is no longer a trend but an established reality,” said Ms Niculescu.
In a recent assessment, the EU police agency Europol said the increase in CSAI is in part due to a rise in self-generated material.
It said there is a “lack of awareness of both children and their parents” about it, saying that the images are often initially produced and shared voluntarily between peers, but can be redistributed and end up in the possession of online child sex offenders. In some cases, this can result in extortion.
The Hotline.ie report said live video streaming of CSAI is “likely to grow” in the coming years. It said there is a year-on-year rise in ‘disguised’ websites, which are solely dedicated to CSAI and in most cases contain hundreds of images and videos.
The report said that none of the cases were traced to the Republic — the first time in eight years.
In a statement, the ISPCC said: “The creation, use, possession or distribution of any child sexual abuse imagery is child abuse and is a matter of significant concern for the ISPCC.”
It is urging people who accidentally come across it to report it to Hotline.ie.
The statement said: “An Garda Síochána’s ongoing Operation Ketch clearly highlights this is an area of significant concern. It is essential that the appropriate resources are put in place, including appropriate regulation and the necessary Garda resources to keep children safe online.”
hotline.ie; webwise.ie; ispcc.ie; cari.ie
This story first appeared in the Irish Examiner.