A police officer posing as a teenager logs into a chat room to crack down on online child predators. (© AP Images)

Virtual Global Task Force

23 February 2007

(New advertising campaign promotes online safety for children, adults)

Washington -- “The Internet is a great place for children to learn, have fun and communicate with their peers.  But where children go, the child sex predators will follow,” says Jim Gamble, chairman of the Virtual Global Task Force (VGT) and chairman of the United Kingdom’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP).

On February 21-22, law enforcement officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia met in Washington at a VGT conference to explore new ways to combat online pedophiles.

Created in 2003, the VGT is an international partnership of law enforcement agencies cooperating to fight online child abuse.  In addition to CEOP, task force members include U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Interpol.  The first VGT conference was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in November 2005.

According to Julie Myers, assistant secretary for ICE, “Given the transnational reach of crimes against children, it is more important than ever to have law enforcement agencies across the globe integrate their efforts and pool their resources.  The VGT is an innovative response to the globalization of the threat to children.”

INNOVATIVE TELEVISION AD AIMS TO EDUCATE

At the Washington conference, VGT’s first commercial was launched, an ad intended to educate children and adults about the need for Internet safety.  The 60-second ad emphasizes the global nature of the Internet and that people online are not always who they say they are.

According to VGT, the ad represents the first time different law enforcement agencies from around the world have worked together to produce an awareness-raising campaign.  The public service advertisement is expected to have a potential audience of 450 million people across three continents.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, a public awareness campaign already has been launched under the name “thinkuknow.”  So far it has produced a 1000 percent increase in reports of predatory online behavior to British police via the CEOP Center, VGT says.  Seventy-seven sex offenders have been arrested since the 2006 launch of CEOP, which is dedicated to tackling child sex abuse. 

“Children have the right to enjoy the virtual world free from predators,” Gamble said.  “Now they can.  They can walk into our virtual police environment and make a report to our combined effort and we will take immediate action.

PROVIDING A 24/7 RESPONSE

A 24/7 (24 hours a day; seven days a week) watch-system concept was launched by the United Kingdom and Australia in 2005 and adopted in the United States in November 2006.

Under the 24/7 watch system, agencies of VGT member nations rotate shifts as the “on-call Internet police officer” for a portion of each day.  Investigators have real-time access to one another to respond to immediate threats, no matter where the alleged violation is taking place.  This watch system already has produced successes.

In one case, information provided in a chat room and reported to U.S. authorities indicated that a man living in England planned to molest his children within the next few hours. Investigators in both countries took immediate action working through a team comprised of ICE, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the CEOP Center and local British police.

Within 120 minutes of the first report, local police officers were at the individual’s door.  Their resulting investigation uncovered images of child pornography and the individual was arrested.

In the United States, Internet users can report suspicious online activity via the Cyber Tipline on the Web site for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.  On this Web site, U.S. users can report to VGT suspected danger to a child using the Internet and located in Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom.

UNDERSTANDING THE BREADTH OF THE PROBLEM

Speakers at the Washington VGT conference emphasized the powerful reach of the Internet.  According to Ethel Quayle, director for the COPINE (Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe) Project at the University College Cork, Ireland, the Internet serves to “normalize” behavior that previously was not considered normal, such as pedophilia.

Quayle urged parents to make greater efforts to understanding the Internet and their children’s online activities.  Adults, she explained, “visit” the Internet; children “live in it.”

According to Gamble, groups like the VGT are “recognizing the global dimension of the Internet and delivering a worldwide virtual police presence.”

“For the child,” Gamble said, “that means they have somewhere to go without being bullied by sex offenders.  For parents, that means they have increased peace of mind.  For the sex offender, it means be aware, because the child you may be looking to ‘groom’ tonight could well be a few clicks away from putting your activities into our hands.”

More information on the Virtual Global Task Force is available on its Web site.