The ACT has recorded the second-highest number of online child exploitation and abuse offenders in the country since the COVID-19 stay-at-home measures were imposed on March 9.
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Five ACT offenders have been before the courts from March 9 to April 24. NSW recorded seven offenders for the same period and Victoria the same number as the ACT.
The five ACT offenders have faced a total of eight charges.
But this week, two more ACT men - one a 50-year-old Wanniassa man and the other a 66-year-old Franklin man - were added to the tally after police executed search warrants on their homes and found child abuse material on their computers.
The shocking numbers were revealed as the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation has ramped up its efforts during the coronavirus pandemic, keenly aware that abusers were taking advantage of children spending more time online at home and often alone.
Child abuse forums, sharing hundreds of videos and images, have grown to over 1000 since March 9. Data also suggests the amount of child abuse material shared on the Dark Net between February and March has doubled from this same time last year.
Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Lesa Gale, who was one of the ACT's top crime investigators before moving across to head up national child protection operations, said there's a growing police concern about the challenges parents, carers and guardians face from manipulative online offenders.
"Offenders are using this [pandemic] as an opportunity to find more victims," assistant commissioner Gale said.
"Because not only are children spending more time online, they are doing it with less adult supervision.
"We realise that in this [COVID-19] environment parents are relying more and more on devices, and offenders exploit that fact."
She described how offenders often use devious forms of inventiveness. They portray themselves to their victims as other children, or make offers for children to be involved in face-modelling in return for money or clothes.
"An interaction would start as something seemingly quite innocent but then evolve into production of sexualised photos, or leading to, in the worst case scenario, child exploitation material," she said.
"We have also seen where offenders target parents or carers through social media. Parents are offered free products for their children to model clothes or products and this is used as an opportunity to groom the kids."
Offenders use multiple social media platforms and multiple identities, often with sophisticated "window dressing" to appear legitimate.
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Research conducted by the centre last year found that only 52 per cent of parents or carers talked to their kids about online safety.
"So what we impress upon as many people as we can, now more than ever, is the importance for parents to talk to their kids about what they are doing online," she said.
The centre is midway through a seven day online safety challenge, part of which encourages parents to find out what apps and games their children are using.
"We encourage parents to take an interest in the technology that children are using, and how they use it," she said.
She urged parents to use the dedicated federal police website thinkuknow.org.au and in cases where immediate help is required, to call the local police on 131-444.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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