“Operation Globe” results in 20 arrests, in six months
The Virtual Global Force (GVT) concluded its meetings, chaired by Major General Dr. Nasser Lakherabani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, and VGT chairman, in Bern, Switzerland.
The VGT announced the results of Operation Globe, a six month global initiative aimed at tackling Live Distant Child Abuse. The Operation resulted in 20 arrests, and the identification of at least 30 victims in 18 cases, with some still ongoing. More arrests and the identification of victims are expected. A large number of offenders and facilitators have already been prosecuted and sentenced varying from several months to up to 16 years of imprisonment.
Major General Al Nuaimi welcomed the announcement of the results of Operation Globe carried out between June-November 2016, with the participation of seven VGT members: the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Dutch National Police (DNP), Cybercrime Coordination Unit of Switzerland, New Zealand Police, Philippines National Police, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of the Interior and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Major General Lakherabrin said, Live Distant Child Abuse, often referred to as live webcam streaming is a horrific type of crime in which vulnerable children in poor situations are exploited, very often by those they trust.
Through the cooperative efforts of law enforcement agencies, children can be protected from those seeking to exploit , he added.
The VGT recommended building of a framework for the coordination of undercover operations on dark net sites- led by Europol. It also approved VGT website enhancement proposal presented by UAE VGT Secretariat.
Furthermore, a VGT capability and capacity building toolkit proposal presented by UAE ministry of interior was endorsed
The Capability and Capacity Building Toolkit is an initiative of the UAE ministry of interior aimed at providing current and future members with basic and advanced resources in tackling online child sexual exploitations and abuse and transfer knowledge across all VGT members.
The meeting discussed a number of international projects and issues related to children online protection. Two projects have been supported: one related to INTERPOL International Police Certificate –IIPC and the second about the Interpol bulletins.
VGT members endorsed National Children’s Advocacy Centre (NCAC) private membership application by unanimous vote.
On the other hand, the National Center for Missing Exploited Children (NCMEC) Working Group- led by Dutch National Police has received over 7 million reports this year, and not all referrals were actionable due to lack of information. This inspired a working Best Practice Document to be circulated in order to send to industry who report to NCMEC on what their referrals should include.
Important features of The UAE ministry of interior’s proposal of enhancing the VGT website include: report button with redirection to country’s reporting website for online child sexual abuse , library resources, language provider, search option, child friendly sub-page, awareness pop-up messages and a new tab -Internet Safety to provide VGT members with ongoing safety tips.
This Operation was aimed at saving children and arresting both facilitators, as well as offenders. It also had to deliver a better insight on how it is organized and what opportunities for disruption may be successful. It demonstrates the need for continued international engagement and cooperation as this is a typical international type of crime, said Peter Reijnders, Chief Superintendent of the DNP’s Program for Vice, Child Sexual Abuse Images and Transnational Child Sex Offenses.
According to law enforcement officials in the VGT, Live Distant Child Abuse was mainly found in areas where poverty, large families and easy Internet access were present, although other examples were also observed. Some investigations led to countries in South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, where facilitators of child sexual abuse had access to children in vulnerable situations and exploited them. During the investigations and interviews with those arrested, officers uncovered evidence that some offenders often paid several thousands of dollars for a series of live webcam shows, each costing between 50 – 100 USD.
The children who were abused have since been rescued and are now in the care of local safeguarding teams and non-government organizations (NGOs). The global nature of Live Distant Child Abuse means that no nation can effectively combat it alone. International engagement and cooperation with Governments, private parties and NGOs is vital.
The VGT, as a collective effort, is committed to taking all necessary action to protect children worldwide from any form of sexual exploitation. The VGT aims to actively contribute to the removal of children from online sexual exploitation and to identify and hold to account these perpetrators at a global level. Cooperation with our Non-Governmental Partners such as International Justice Mission is of great benefit for all, but especially the children. We as law enforcement are confident that by this cooperation the needs of victims and their future care is best served and these NGO’s play a vital role in this. said AFP acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan.
Andy Brennan, Deputy Director of the NCA’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command commented, Sharing intelligence and information with our international law enforcement colleagues is vital if we are to combat the live streaming of child sexual abuse. Often, those directing the abuse, do so thinking that they will not be caught as they are in a different country to the victim. But this is not the case. We will continue to work collectively with our international partners to ensure those who sexually abuse children are held to account and the victims are safeguarded and protected from further harm.
VGT, created in2003, is an international alliance of law enforcement and private sector agencies dedicated to combating online child sexual exploitation and other forms of transnational child sexual exploitation.Since its creation, the VGT has conducted numerous successful investigations around the world, including Operation Endeavor, Operation Rescue, Operation Basket and Operation Atlas. As the most recent VGT endeavor, Operation Globe continues to demonstrate that law enforcement’s work to combat child exploitation is never finished.