Grooming, paedophilia and child exploitation on the rise in Tasmania say AFP top cops
Society has “an increasing appetite” for child pornography, one of Tasmania’s top cops says, as he reveals how children are being targeted, and why their disgusting actions are on the rise.
Tasmania
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TASMANIA’S most vulnerable are being targeted by depraved predators – and their disgusting actions are on the rise.
Detective Sergeant Aaron Hardcastle, officer in charge of the Australian Federal Police Tasmania, is on the front line in protecting children from child exploitation.
In the 2019-2020 financial year, there were nine arrests and 35 charges made in Tasmania.
However across the country, there were more than 161 arrests, 1214 charges, and 134 children removed from harm.
“Unfortunately society has an increasing appetite for this type of material, particularly in the online space,” he said.
“It’s becoming a real issue with the volume of material. In years gone by we’ve seen in the thousands of files when we’re prosecuting offenders, but these days we’re seeing in the tens to hundreds of thousands of files.
“In the grooming space, we’re seeing a fairly steady growth in that area as well.”
Detective Inspector Hardcastle said predators often approached children online through social media or forums.
Their main method of communication was text, with paedophiles than able to remain anonymous or pretend to be someone else.
“The introduction happens on the site or the app, and generally what will happen is the offenders will start to move the kids off into private chats. That’s when the real offending starts to occur. That’s when you start seeing demands,” he said.
“Once any images are sent, they’re sent forever. The child has no control over that image anymore – that image in control of the offender.”
The coronavirus pandemic has lead to both an increase in grooming and access to exploitation material, with a 280 per cent increase in workload for the AFP since this time last year.
And it isn’t just Tasmanian predators targeting Tasmanian children.
“It’s people from all around the world,” Detective Sergeant Hardcastle said.
“We’ve had cases here where people in Tasmania are grooming children on the other side of the world, and we’ve also had people on the other side of the world grooming Tasmanian kids.
“The internet doesn’t have a boundary.”
Detective Inspector Hardcastle said his role was one of the toughest to take on as a police officer – especially as a proud parent himself.
“But it’s also the most rewarding, because you’re making a real difference to kids and allowing kids to grow up the way they should be able to, to be safe and happy,” he said.
“As part of combating this type of crime we’ve got a joint anti-child exploitation team, between the AFP and Tasmania Police.
“It’s really important for the Tasmanian community to know we’re working tirelessly to combat this type of crime.
“It’s abhorrent, and something no child should be subjected to, and that no police officer should have to witness.”
He said his advice for children was to trust your instincts.
“If something is going wrong, if your instincts are telling you something isn’t right – it probably isn’t,” he said.
“If it doesn’t feel right, tell somebody – somebody needs to know so the situation can be dealt with.
“Not everybody on the internet is who they say they are, or who they may appear to be.
“There are some pretty nasty predators out there who are targeting the vulnerable people.”
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