A coordinated effort by investigative agencies worldwide recently resulted in the arrest of one person in Goa by the Central Bureau of Investigation for the alleged sexual abuse of children. The CBI has so far identified 27 young victims.
The images and videos, through which the offender and the victims were identified, were originally uncovered in Belgium and uploaded to Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database by Europol. It also enabled the Australian officials to provide additional intelligence.
As it turned out, the accused was involved in the sexual abuse of children in Goa and Maharashtra. He would record the acts on his mobile phones, digital camera and other electronic devices. The photographs and video clips were shared with others through the Internet and sold via the dark web. The accused is an Indian national.
The agency alleged that the person was in touch with other paedophiles overseas via social networking websites and platforms like Instagram and Whatsapp.
The Interpol victim identification task force comprising officers from 11 countries, including India, spent two weeks in early July analysing material selected by the Interpol’s crimes against children unit and its efforts resulted in the identification of 130 abuse locations. Information was sent to the relevant member countries for investigation.
As stated in the Interpol’s website, its ICSE database holds more than 2.7 million images and videos and has helped identify 23,564 victims worldwide.
“Using image and video comparison software, investigators are instantly able to make connections between victims, abusers and places. The database avoids duplication of effort and saves precious time by letting investigators know whether a series of images has already been discovered or identified in another country, or whether it has similar features to other images,” it says.
The database allows specialised investigators from over 64 countries to exchange information and share data with their colleagues across the world.
