Canadian child porn cases on the rise
July 31, 2012
Ottawa police are seeing a dramatic increase in cases involving child
pornography - and the Internet-fuelled crime is only expected to become
more prevalent.
The force saw a 49% increase last year in child porn-related
investigations with 79, which is more than double the number of
investigations officers were handling three years ago.
The rise mirrors a disturbing trend across the country. Police
reports of the cyber crime last year saw the largest jump of any
offence. Child pornography cases rose a whopping 40% with more than
3,100 incidents, according to Statistics Canada data.
“We’re seeing more and more videos, more capacity for computers to
hold information,” said acting Staff Sgt. Frank D’Aoust, of the Ottawa
police sexual assault and child abuse section. “There’s no typical
offender.”
So far this year, police have probed 43 cases involving child pornography, some of which are ongoing.
Exactly how many investigations will result in charges is unknown.
But it is clear police are seeing more incidents, including accessing,
publishing and distributing illegal images, more often.
Investigations are also getting more lengthy and complex as computer
storage capacity grows. It can take months to audit computers, say
police, since it is now not unusual to have to sift through hundreds of
thousands of pictures.
It is also not uncommon for one investigation to lead to subsequent
cases, with each bringing the possibility of multiple victims.
Complaints from a national tipline, school or parental concerns have
launched investigations in Ottawa, including some that started last year
and remain open. An increase of 17 computer child luring cases drove up
investigation numbers in Ottawa last year.
Growing public awareness about such crime is also fuelling more
reports, say police, but cyber crime is not expected to slow down.
A new report that anticipates criminal trends faced by Ottawa police
suggests it is the nature of crime that is changing, and it is likely
officers will be battling back against more such borderless crime in the
years to come.
The more people access social media, chat groups and the Internet, said D’Aoust, the more reports police will get.
While police are secretive about their Ottawa Police Internet Child Exploitation Unit, the demand is there for more officers.
Police and experts believe such online crime is under-reported and
the issue calls for frank discussions between parents and children about
the darker side of technology.
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