TRIGGER WARNING: The following contains content that people may find distressing.
Today the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) launched four new images of the ‘Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object’ initiative demonstrating their ongoing commitment to freeing children from exploitation.
The images were released in partnership with Suncorp Stadium, who have committed to helping support the initiative for the remaining of the football season.
The initiative asks members of the community to identify objects extracted from the backgrounds of sexually explicit materials involving children to help law enforcement identify its origin so police can identify the victim and offender.
Since the launch of ‘Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object’ on 3 March 2021, the webpage has been viewed more than 53,000 times resulting in over 580 reports sent to our Victim Identification Unit.
Thanks to some extremely helpful tips in these reports, three investigations have narrowed in on leads and vendors of the specific objects are currently assisting with investigations.
In addition to this, even more reports of child sexual abuse un-related to the images have been submitted to the ACCCE.
Pictured: Suncorp Stadium Manager Alan Graham, Julian Simmonds MP, and ACCCE Commander Hilda Sirec launch the new objects at Suncorp Stadium.
Commander ACCCE, Child Protection and Human Trafficking Hilda Sirec said the support of Suncorp Stadium and the NRL will help us with awareness and discussion into online child sexual exploitation.
“Protecting our children from harm is everyone’s responsibility and this partnership may provide the ACCCE with critical information that allows us to remove a child from serious harm.”
“We are hoping spectators at these games may be among the community detectives who help us crack these cases,” Commander Sirec said.
The fight is not over and we still need your help, we encourage you to spread the word, view and share these images within the community.
The smallest clue may help save a child and remove them from a lifetime of abuse. To view the images visit www.accce.gov.au/trace and to support the initiative, follow the ACCCE on Facebook and Twitter.
Introduced by Europol in 2017, Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object has already led to the removal of 10 children being removed from harm and the arrest of three offenders. Over 26,000 tips have been submitted by the public, investigators were able to narrow down a country in 105 instances, 12 children victim of child sexual abuse have been identified and removed from harm and 4 offenders have been identified and prosecuted.