"It just went up, up, up"
The explosion in cases of online child sexual exploitation that began during the COVID-19 pandemic is not slowing down. In the past year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has once again received a record number of reports, according to figures obtained by La Presse. In the face of the horror on a daily basis, the team members of the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (NCECC) are working under "extreme pressure". Exceptionally, they agreed to open their doors to us.
"The number of reports is constantly increasing. If we compare it with the numbers of 10 years ago, it's only gone up, up, up," says Roberta Sinclair, manager of strategic policy and research at the centre.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, the NCECC received 118,162 complaints and reports of sextortion, luring, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, dissemination, production or possession of child sexual abuse material, and other such crimes. This is 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, as young people were glued to their screens and their parents were often busy working, cases exploded, reaching unprecedented heights in the country. Screen consumption habits never returned to normal.
The police see everything. On Tuesday, the RCMP issued a statement warning of violent groups that "target youth online with the goal of getting them to film or livestream acts of self-harm, torture of animals, suicide attempts, or produce child sexual exploitation material.
Subsequently, the statement said, the images circulated in online networks and were used to better control the young victims or to subject them to extortion maneuvers. It often happens that the executioners are themselves minors. Crimes occur on gaming or social media platforms and mobile apps popular with young people such as Roblox, Minecraft, Twitch or Telegram.
Lack of resourcesThe meteoric rise in cases is putting enormous pressure on law enforcement, whose numbers have not increased at the same rate, Sinclair said. At the NCECC, all reports must be processed.
Roberta Sinclair, Manager, Strategic Policy and Research at the RCMP's NCECC
Are we succeeding in doing so? Yes. Are we exerting extreme pressure on our police officers to do this? Yes. Would we do better if we had more resources? Yes. What if we had technological tools.
The RCMP is responsible for analyzing, investigating, and then redistributing to the 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, among others.
Its investigators also work to identify the young victims staged in the photos and videos that are brought to their attention, which involves analysing in detail images that are sometimes unbearably violent 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 child sexual exploitation, which includes 38,000 victims and nearly 5 million photos and videos, so that police forces around the world are aware of them and can access them in their investigations.
Offenders are "progressing"Corporal Stephen Ludlow was an investigator with the team until recently. He sees how cyberpredators refine their techniques in the hope of slipping through the cracks.
Corporal Stephen Ludlow of the RCMP
Offenders are constantly evolving. Not only because of the tools, but also with regard to their skills. To compete with them, investigators need more experience, more training.
"They are intelligent. And they're in it for life," Sinclair adds of the offenders. "Once they start, they progress and they continue to progress."
Facing them are investigators who are confronted every day with the worst of human beings. "People who come here, they stay here for several years and then they leave," Sinclair said. That's what they have to do. The impacts stay with them forever. »
A heavy jobLast spring, La Presse had rare access to the NCECC's offices in Ottawa. At first glance, you would think of yourself in any office tower, with its neon lighting and partitioned workspaces. Except that here, the screens are not so much used to preserve the tranquility of those who work there as to protect others from overexposure to the photos and videos that already populate their daily lives.
Those who work here often witness crimes live. "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 [with other investigative units] is that you actually see the crime happening in front of you. Whereas usually, we intervene in a crime that we don't actually see happening," says Corporal Ludlow.
At the NCECC, all employees undergo a psychological assessment before joining the team "to ensure that they are able to endure the images" they will be exposed to in the course of their work, explains Maxime St-Fleur, the officer in charge. "The [trauma] from watching some of these images is going to affect you for the rest of your life," he says.
The impact doesn't just come from the images, addsMs. Sinclair. "[Our team] is aware that this phenomenon is happening everywhere and on a large scale. Once you work in this field, you can't forget it. When we run into obstacles, like understaffing or things like that, it becomes even more difficult. When you're told, 'Sorry, we don't have the resources to do this,' [our team] knows what's going on [online]. It increases the negative effects. »
In the office, posters with phrases of hope, decorations and plants lighten the atmosphere. A reading and rest area 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 our own limits on the amount of viewing. There are things you can do, like reading a report that doesn't have images, for example. We encourage the mental health aspect, going to the gym, taking breaks," says Cpl. Krista Mckillop, who has worked here for ten years. "I found a balance," she says.
Corporal Philippe Gravel, investigator with the RCMP's NCECC technical team
Technological tools are also being used. Filters are superimposed on photos and videos to mitigate their effect, for example by showing them in black and white rather than 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," notes Roberta Sinclair, "they tell themselves that if they don't continue to do their work, children will not be identified and children will continue to be sexually exploited. It affects their vacations, it affects their working hours, it affects whether they go home in the evening at the usual time or if they work overtime. It's a very difficult world to work in. »
"The number of reports is constantly increasing. If we compare it with the numbers of 10 years ago, it's only gone up, up, up," says Roberta Sinclair, manager of strategic policy and research at the centre.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, the NCECC received 118,162 complaints and reports of sextortion, luring, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, dissemination, production or possession of child sexual abuse material, and other such crimes. This is 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, as young people were glued to their screens and their parents were often busy working, cases exploded, reaching unprecedented heights in the country. Screen consumption habits never returned to normal.
The police see everything. On Tuesday, the RCMP issued a statement warning of violent groups that "target youth online with the goal of getting them to film or livestream acts of self-harm, torture of animals, suicide attempts, or produce child sexual exploitation material.
Subsequently, the statement said, the images circulated in online networks and were used to better control the young victims or to subject them to extortion maneuvers. It often happens that the executioners are themselves minors. Crimes occur on gaming or social media platforms and mobile apps popular with young people such as Roblox, Minecraft, Twitch or Telegram.
Lack of resourcesThe meteoric rise in cases is putting enormous pressure on law enforcement, whose numbers have not increased at the same rate, Sinclair said. At the NCECC, all reports must be processed.
Roberta Sinclair, Manager, Strategic Policy and Research at the RCMP's NCECC
Are we succeeding in doing so? Yes. Are we exerting extreme pressure on our police officers to do this? Yes. Would we do better if we had more resources? Yes. What if we had technological tools.
The RCMP is responsible for analyzing, investigating, and then redistributing to the 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, among others.
Its investigators also work to identify the young victims staged in the photos and videos that are brought to their attention, which involves analysing in detail images that are sometimes unbearably violent 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 child sexual exploitation, which includes 38,000 victims and nearly 5 million photos and videos, so that police forces around the world are aware of them and can access them in their investigations.
Offenders are "progressing"Corporal Stephen Ludlow was an investigator with the team until recently. He sees how cyberpredators refine their techniques in the hope of slipping through the cracks.
Corporal Stephen Ludlow of the RCMP
Offenders are constantly evolving. Not only because of the tools, but also with regard to their skills. To compete with them, investigators need more experience, more training.
"They are intelligent. And they're in it for life," Sinclair adds of the offenders. "Once they start, they progress and they continue to progress."
Facing them are investigators who are confronted every day with the worst of human beings. "People who come here, they stay here for several years and then they leave," Sinclair said. That's what they have to do. The impacts stay with them forever. »
A heavy jobLast spring, La Presse had rare access to the NCECC's offices in Ottawa. At first glance, you would think of yourself in any office tower, with its neon lighting and partitioned workspaces. Except that here, the screens are not so much used to preserve the tranquility of those who work there as to protect others from overexposure to the photos and videos that already populate their daily lives.
Those who work here often witness crimes live. "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 [with other investigative units] is that you actually see the crime happening in front of you. Whereas usually, we intervene in a crime that we don't actually see happening," says Corporal Ludlow.
At the NCECC, all employees undergo a psychological assessment before joining the team "to ensure that they are able to endure the images" they will be exposed to in the course of their work, explains Maxime St-Fleur, the officer in charge. "The [trauma] from watching some of these images is going to affect you for the rest of your life," he says.
The impact doesn't just come from the images, addsMs. Sinclair. "[Our team] is aware that this phenomenon is happening everywhere and on a large scale. Once you work in this field, you can't forget it. When we run into obstacles, like understaffing or things like that, it becomes even more difficult. When you're told, 'Sorry, we don't have the resources to do this,' [our team] knows what's going on [online]. It increases the negative effects. »
In the office, posters with phrases of hope, decorations and plants lighten the atmosphere. A reading and rest area 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 our own limits on the amount of viewing. There are things you can do, like reading a report that doesn't have images, for example. We encourage the mental health aspect, going to the gym, taking breaks," says Cpl. Krista Mckillop, who has worked here for ten years. "I found a balance," she says.
Corporal Philippe Gravel, investigator with the RCMP's NCECC technical team
Technological tools are also being used. Filters are superimposed on photos and videos to mitigate their effect, for example by showing them in black and white rather than 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," notes Roberta Sinclair, "they tell themselves that if they don't continue to do their work, children will not be identified and children will continue to be sexually exploited. It affects their vacations, it affects their working hours, it affects whether they go home in the evening at the usual time or if they work overtime. It's a very difficult world to work in. »