Abusers online ‘a constant threat’

The state’s top child abuse police team say child sex offenders are lurking in plain sight, and are warning parents to do more to educate their kids about predators online.

The state’s top child abuse police team say child sex offenders are lurking in plain sight, and are warning parents to do more to educate their kids about predators online.

Taskforce Argos detective Inspector Glen Donaldson said one in four children had been contacted by a stranger online, and one in eight said they’d ­accept a friend request from someone they did not know.

In the 2022-23 financial year, Argos investigators saved 321 children from harm, arrested 49 sex offenders and laid 275 charges.

The previous year, more than 400 children were saved, and 29 sex offenders charged with 145 offences.

In the past two years, investigators have also referred more than 600 cases to national and international law enforcement.

Inspector Donaldson said child abuse was constant and his team had caught four offenders in the southeast in just two weeks.

“It’s a regular thing. There is no sort of quiet time in our lives. It is literally every day,” he said.

Detective Inspector Glen Donaldson, head of Task Force Argos. Picture: Liam Kidston

In the first two weeks of June, Argos detectives saved five children who were being abused around Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

On June 5, a 44-year-old North Lakes man was arrested and charged over abuse against an infant girl.

On June 8, a 40-year-old Labrador man was arrested for allegedly distributing child exploitation material, and his devices showed he was allegedly chatting with multiple children online in the early stages of grooming.

Covert officer Henry said this man’s wife had no idea about his offending when police knocked on their door.

“When we went through the door, the wife said, ‘No, you’ve got the wrong guy’.

“(She said) ‘This guy is the best dad ever, he lives for these children’, so she refused to ­believe it.”

Inspector Donaldson said the demographics of a child abuser were extremely varied.

“There’s been this stereotypical image of what is a child sex offender. And that is someone who’s not physically attractive, it’s a man who is middle aged.

“But we find offenders … from all demographics, all occupations, all genders, all ages, and they all look different.”

He urged parents to speak with their children about both the dangers of the internet, and  how to behave appropriately online.

“Unfortunately, culturally with our kids, there’s this acceptance to accept messages from strangers.

“It’s this bulletproof invulnerability they have.

“Parents also need to talk to their children, particularly the male children, about consent and about appropriate behaviour online.”