A princess tee-shirt, butterfly bed sheets and flat-brim cap: Cops release images of NINE everyday items – and they could be the key to catching Australia’s most evil paedophiles
- Pictures of everyday items could provide breakthroughs on child abuse cases
- Australian Federal Police launched ‘Trace an Object’ program on Wednesday
- Screen grabs are obtained by officers trawling through online abuse material
- The program has saved 10 children in Europe since being launched in 2017
Commonplace items such as a cap, a shirt or a storage cabinet could provide critical breakthroughs on child abuse cases and allow the public to help catch paedophiles.
The Australian Federal Police has started posting pictures of everyday items including a logo or bed sheet from cases where their leads have stalled in the hope someone might recognise the images.
The digitally-enhanced photos are lifted from disturbing videos obtained by a specialist team of AFP officers who scour them for clues in the hope they will lead to a location or suspect in the cold cases.
The AFP has released a number of pictures of everyday items (pictured) lifted from child abuse videos in an effort to get the public’s help to provide clues
Officers are hoping someone might recognise the images, such as the logo on this cap
The AFP launched the program on Wednesday after it was established in Europe in 2017
The AFP will release nine images on Wednesday as they formally launch the Australian arm of the ‘Trace an Object’ program in partnership with Europol.
‘These images, they’re innocuous but they’re particular enough that it might trigger a memory from someone out there,’ Hilda Sirec, the AFP Commander of the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, said.
‘Even the smallest clue can often help solve a case.’
The AFP is expected to release pictures of more items, which could be as simple as a vase or powerpoint, as officers tasked with the job sift through material.
Tiles in the background of this video could also provide a breakthrough
Police are hoping items such as patterns on tiles or on blankets (pictured) may trigger someone’s memory
A screen grab of a sheet lifted from one of the videos
The program has saved 10 children since being launched in Europe in 2017.
On the Europol website the screen grabs of objects such as a wristband or hotel room in Asia are posted with questions underneath.
The public can then provide anonymous responses directly on the site which are forwarded to officers.
‘Child exploitation is a huge problem in Australia. We receive more than 21,000 reports from our partners in relation to child abuse images,’ Commander Sirec said.
‘Hopefully this is going to be one part in helping us save children.’
Logos on shirts and on sheets (pictured) are distinctive and could save a child in danger or lead police to a suspect
Since being launched in Europe in 2017 the program has saved 10 children (pictured: a wall cabinet)