How more than 250 Australian paedophiles have paid more than $1.3million to view children being raped overseas - as federal cops scramble to lock them up
- Report found 256 Australian paedophiles paid for child abuse in The Philippines
- In some cases paedophiles could choose the sexual abuse they wanted to watch
- Payments are given anonymously using encryption technology on the dark web
- This makes it hard for police to trace, find and stop webcam child sex tourists
- Calls have been made to update legislation into hiding encryption information
More than 250 Australian paedophiles paid more than $1.3million to watch children being sexually abused in live-streams from The Philippines, a report has found.
The Australian Institute of Criminology report found that more than 2,700 payments believed to be for live online child abuse were made out of Australia between 2006 and 2018.
The payments are difficult for the Australian Federal Police to trace because the abuse was hosted on the dark web using sophisticated encryption technologies.
The report has sparked a meeting between the AFP, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre at the National Press Club to call for increased legislation into concealing encryption information to stop, find and identify 'webcam child sex tourists.'
ACIC CEO Mike Phelan told The Australian that current laws are being left behind by the technology being used for online sex crimes.
A report has found that 256 Australian paedophiles paid more than $1.3million to watch children being sexually abused online (stock image)
'One thing this paper highlights is live-streaming of child sexual abuse leaves very little online trace or record and how technology is enabling its proliferation, making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to combat this devastating crime,' he said.
'In practical terms, this means we simply cannot see what these destructive criminal groups are saying to one another. We no longer have just our hands tied behind our back — we are also wearing earmuffs and an eye patch.'
Ninety per cent of the ACIC's inquiries involve encryption technology, with criminals moving away from conventional applications and media to hide their business.
The use of anonymous trading sources and using new technology to explore illegal activities is predicted to continue to grow in Australia, with report data able to profile 256 webcam child sex tourists aged in their 50s and 60s.
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Fifty-five per cent of those profiled were previously unknown to law enforcement and had no prior criminal record.
The global demand for online sexual abuse is increasing, with the report finding that the Philippines is a hot spot for explicit content.
In some cases the offenders were able to request different ways in which the children were abused.
Mr Phelan said Australian laws must be updated to keep pace with the criminal groups and their unique communication systems.
'Right now, our laws are not keeping up with technology. To ensure legislation maintains pace with the rate of adoption of new technology by criminals, it must be adaptable and, arguably, technology agnostic,' he said.
More than half of the webcam child sex tourists identified were unknown to law enforcement with no prior criminal conviction (stock image)
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