Crime agencies link 256 Australians to online child-sex abuse

Agencies have identified 256 Australians they believe have paid over $1.3m for live-streamed child abuse from The Philippines.

256 Australians are believed to have paid more than $1.3m for live-streamed child abuse and rape from The Philippines. Picture: istock

Criminal intelligence agencies have identified 256 Australians they believe have paid more than $1.3m for live-streamed child abuse and rape from The Philippines, amid calls from enforcement agencies for updated laws to tackle child-sex networks using the “dark web” to escape detection.

A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, the first study of its kind into the escalating use of live online child abuse, revealed that more than 2700 fin­ancial transactions suspected to be payments for extreme child abuse had been made out of Australia between 2006 and 2018.

However, sophisticated encryption through the dark web was increasingly preventing agencies such as the Australian Federal Police from monitoring communications between abusers and service providers.

The research paper is to be released on Wednesday as the heads of the AFP, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission come together at the National Press Club, where they are likely to call for further legislation to combat encryption specifically related to online child abuse.

It is the first analysis linking financial transaction data from Austrac with criminal histories by the ACIC to profile the number of Australians paying for live child sexual abuse streaming based out of The Philippines.

It also used the data to profile child-sex predators termed “webcam child-sex tourists” as likely to be aged in their 50s or 60s, with most (55 per cent) having no criminal record.

The report follows an Austrac investigation late in 2019 into Westpac over 23 million alleged breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-­Terrorism Financing Act 2006, including transactions made by people suspected of engaging in child exploitation rackets. It comes on the back of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s attack on digital platforms, including Facebook, for an alleged refusal to co-operate with intelligence agencies over end-to-end encryption that hid the activities of child-sex networks.

In a sign of the urgency with which law enforcement is viewing the proliferation of this type of crime, head of ACIC Mike Phelan said the laws as they stood had failed to keep up with technology and needed to be reviewed with use of the dark web rapidly increasing.

“One thing this paper highlights is live-streaming of child sexual abuse leaves very ­little online trace or record and how technology is enabling its proliferation, making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to combat this devastating crime,” Mr Phelan said.

“Communications technologies, such as encryption, are increasingly exploited by criminals to conceal their illegal activities — to the extent that 90 per cent of the ACIC’s investigations now involve encryption — for example, the use of high-end encrypted smartphones that are far more sophisticated than your traditional over-the-top applications such as WhatsApp, Wickr or Signal.

“In practical terms, this means we simply cannot see what these destructive criminal groups are saying to one another. We no longer have just our hands tied behind our back — we are also wearing earmuffs and an eye patch.

“Not only are criminals concealing their communications but they are also finding new platforms to conduct and grow their operations. Australia’s use of dark web marketplaces is expected to increase into the future, given the increasing popularity of online trading and the perceived anonymity such marketplaces provide.

“Right now, our laws are not keeping up with technology. To ensure legislation maintains pace with the rate of adoption of new technology by criminals, it must be adaptable and, arguably, technology agnostic.”

Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose will say their financial tracking had identified sex predators using “webcam child-sex tourism” previously unknown to authorities. “The transactions we provided concerned 256 individuals resident in Australia who had made at least one transaction to a known facilitator in The Philippines,” she will say in her address.

“Many of the Australians identified with sending funds were previously completely unknown to law enforcement. In fact, these offenders were actively taking steps to hide their movements in our community. Taken together, findings from these cases can assist to form a profile of offenders.

“The study showed that these individuals were likely to be aged in their 50s or 60s and over half had no criminal record. Of those who did have a criminal history, only 10 per cent had a sexual ­offence recorded.

“Of course, this crime involves victims in many countries but in partnership with our global law enforcement partners and NGOs, we have identified The Philippines as a hub for live-streaming abuse.”

The AIC report says the prevalence and demand for CSA live-streaming, based on anecdotal evidence, was growing globally.

“Offenders often request how they want the child to be sexually abused either before or during the live-streaming session,” it says.

“There is clear evidence of escalation in the frequency and potential severity of offending in the financial transactions made to CSA live-stream facilitators.”

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the agency had received almost 17,000 reports of online child sexual abuse. Each report contained hundreds to thousands of images and videos.