Bruce Morcombe sends chilling warning to all parents of the dangers kids face to online predators

Parents have been issued a chilling warning – we are “clueless” to the real dangers online.

Parents are “clueless” to the dangers their kids face from online predators as more children are getting internet-enabled devices at earlier ages, leading child safety campaigner Bruce Morcombe warns.

It comes as the Australian Federal Police warn more children are being tricked into sharing explicit images of themselves with online predators, prompting a revamped education campaign for parents, children, and school teachers.

The AFP’s Brisbane-based Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received 40,232 reports of online child sexual exploitation in the 2022-23 financial year, up from 36,600 the year before.

Bruce Morcombe said children’s vulnerability online continues to be a major threat, and he and Denise can usually only spend an hour at a school trying to get their message across.

“Children being children are so gullible and they want to believe in innocence and a conversation can develop so quickly online and they can just feel trapped,” he said.

“We have met police officers who quite bluntly say, and we know this as well, that parents are basically clueless when it comes to the dangers to their children online.

“They are very strong words, but unfortunately in many circumstances they are very truthful.

“The most significant point to get across to ordinary mums and dads and grandparents is supervision. It’s not interfering, it’s not you delving into their private lives, don’t be put off by it, it’s your responsibility when they’re online.”

Bruce Morcombe, father of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, has warned parents of the dangers online: Picture: Dan Peled

Bruce and Denis Morcombe are part of a working group with ACCCE and they were in Canberra last month for a meeting with AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw.

According to the AFP and ACCCE experts, sextortion and self-generated child abuse material are now the greatest threats to the next generation with predators targeting them through social media, multi player gaming sessions, and encrypted apps.

AFP Human Exploitation Commander Helen Schneider said parents needed to be aware of their child’s privacy settings on any online platform, and mindful of who they are talking to.

“It is a broad spectrum – free net, dark net, encrypted apps, online gaming. We see online predators cast a wide net and use different methodologies on different platforms,” she said.

“Self-generated child abuse material can occur simply through a lack of supervision and a child picking up a parent’s device that has been left connected, or children might be doing it themselves through a romantic arrangement with another young person.

“Online gaming is targeting younger children with grooming, then many platforms where we see sextortion occurring.

“A sextortion arrangement is where they are tricked into thinking they are talking to someone of the same age and opposite sex and they share an image.

“As soon as they have done that it becomes very clear that is not the person they are actually talking to and then they are blackmailed to most commonly send money.”

In the 22/23 financial year, the AFP-led ThinkUKnow education program made 433 presentations in Queensland schools and reached 42,081 students across the state.

The national online safety program is led by law enforcement and designed for parents, carers, teachers and schoolchildren of all ages.

It is updated every two years based on real trends and cases seen in the ACCCE, and the latest update has two new modules based on the increasing trends of sextortion, peer-to-peer sharing of explicit material, and self-generated child abuse material.

Commander Schneider said ACCCE is seeing an increase in child exploitation case reports and referrals every year.

“It’s probably a reflection that more young people are using the internet around the globe. I think we have worked really hard to raise awareness around what these online threats might look like and how to report to us,” she said.

“But also technology is moving at a rapid pace, and younger and younger children are accessing and using devices.

“So I think as much as those statistics are going up, there are positives to that, it means we are detecting it and we can find out who these children are and remove them from harm.”