Sick Australian paedophiles are driving up demand for videos of young children being sexually abused, tortured and even murdered
- Police have growing fears about market for online child exploitation material
- They believe demand in Australia for disturbing content is getting worse
- Reports of child exploitation involving Australian victims or offenders doubled
- Follows allegations linking Westpac to child exploitation in the Philippines
Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Debbie Platz (pictured) has expressed concern for the growing demand for disturbing child exploitation material in Australia
Demand for shocking online child exploitation material has exploded in Australia and is only going to get worse, senior police fear.
The nation’s top officers admit they can no longer ‘arrest our way’ out of the problem as the market for online content of children being sexually abused, tortured and even being killed gains momentum.
Officers say the growing demand being fuelled by paedophiles is only going to increase as more than a billion people from developing countries gain internet access through 5G technology.
The warning follows bombshell allegations linking Westpac to child exploitation in the Philippines.
Reports of child exploitation involving either Australian victims or offenders nearly doubled to 18,000 last year, according to Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Debbie Platz.
Around half of all illicit material seized by the AFP featured an Australian victim.
What’s more disturbing is that not only the material becoming more violent but the victims featured were getting younger.
‘Why people get sexually gratified from watching a child be tortured and murdered is beyond me,’ Ms Platz told The Weekend Australian.
‘Most of the videos and images that we see of the ultimate killing of a child I would say is happening overseas, but being purchased by Australians.’
She added the government could ‘give us their whole budget and we will still not eradicate this problem’.
Digital encryption is making it tougher to addressing the problem, according to Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo.
He called for more industry collaboration from tech companies to help authorities police the dark web.
NSW Police’s child abuse and sex crime squad Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec fears the problem will get worse as new regions become online.
It’s a grave concern shared by former detective Toby Dagg, who heads Australia’s eSafety Commissioner’s CyberReport investigative team.
The market for online content of children being sexually abused, tortured and even murdered is on the rise, according to Australia’s top police officers (stock image)
‘The fact that so many billions of humans are yet to come into internet technologies and enjoy the fruits of those technologies – without any of the regulatory mechanisms that have been crafted over decades in countries like Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand – means that we are invariably nowhere near peak,’ Mr Dagg said.
The disturbing warning comes two days after bombshell allegations linking Westpac to child exploitation in the Philippines.
AUSTRAC said Australia’s second largest bank failed to carry out due diligence on high-risk transactions to the Philippines and Southeast Asia that carried potential child exploitation risks.
The dirty money watchdog alleges nearly 3,000 transactions indicative of child exploitation payments – totalling about $480,000 – were made by 12 Westpac customers.
Westpac announced on Friday it would hire independent experts to overhaul its anti-money laundering systems, including a review of accountability.
The bank had also began discussions with community groups about further steps to fight child exploitation.
‘The notion that any child has been hurt as a result of any failings by Westpac is deeply distressing and we are truly sorry. The board unreservedly apologises,’ chairman Lindsay Maxsted said in a statement.
Senior police fear the growing demand for child exploitation will get worse (stock image)