Toronto Child Exploitation Unit Model For Forces Around The World

Posted November 2, 2006 12:00 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

The force has been using innovative technological techniques to track down abused kids, but in order to save youngsters from predators investigators must first spend hours every day poring over awful images.

“There’s nothing worse than listening to a child screaming for mommy to help them or for daddy to stop what they’re doing,” Det. Const. Lori Haggett of the Child Exploitation Unit (pictured) said.

“It just gets you in the stomach and you just wish that there was something you could do that you could help these children.”

Haggett inspects the images of child pornography she finds online and scans the photos for any clues that could lead police to a perpetrator.

Sadly, the amount of child porn on the Internet is staggering and Toronto Police are only able to investigate a fraction of those cases, but despite the overwhelming and distressing task they face, there’s great celebration when detectives do save a child from further abuse.

“There are lots of children out there, to save one absolutely amazing,” Haggett said. “That’s what you live for.”

Here’s a brief look at some of the incredible work that has garnered worldwide attention for the Toronto squad:

In the spring of 2005, the efforts of Toronto Police were in the spotlight when they went public with their search for a little girl being abused. Local detectives and European police came across pornographic images of the child online and were desperate to help her. In an effort to track her down, Toronto Police retouched the photos to remove the victim in the hopes members of the public would recognize her surroundings. Police learned some of the disturbing photos were taken in a room at a Disney resort in Orlando and the victim was eventually identified.
In February 2005, detectives found a photo of a little boy being abused online. They enhanced the image and spotted a train ticket in the victim’s hand. Toronto detectives discovered the image came from Madrid, Spain. Thanks to their efforts, three suspects were arrested in Spain.
Last March Toronto cops from the Child Exploitation Unit, then headed by Det. Sgt. Paul Gillespie, helped break up an international child porn ring based in Edmonton that had tentacles that spread to the U.S., the U.K., Australia and across Canada.

Toronto Police are doing an incredible job of rounding up those suspected of abusing and exploiting children and a big reason for that is the Microsoft-developed Child Exploitation Tracking System that was created thanks to Gillespie’s e-mails to Bill Gates two years ago.

Here are some facts about the Child Exploitation Tracking System:

In January 2003, Det. Sgt. Paul Gillespie, the man who once headed up Toronto Police’s Child Exploitation Unit, contacted Microsoft founder Bill Gates, hoping to come up with a program that could help police solve online child pornography cases.
A software package called the Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) was born out of this partnership. When the idea first came about, many police forces across the country were able to provide their input in its development.
The technological tool allows cops across the country to work together on investigations and most Canadian forces with a sex crimes unit are tapping into this database, which is housed within the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
The CETS has been a key tool in solving a number of cases here in Canada and internationally.

Here are some facts about the program:

CETS was launched in April 2005 in collaboration with Microsoft and the Toronto Police Service.
The product is currently being used by 125 users representing 16 law enforcement agencies across the country.
CETS is a secure database, housed within the RCMP’s NCECC that serves as a repository of information and an investigative tool in law enforcement’s fight against the online sexual exploitation of children.
CETS is a multi-faceted tool. It is a record management tool, a secure bulletin board for the sharing of information among police agencies and has the capability to engage a number of different systems such as MapPoint, Netscan and MSN directories.
CETS promotes safe information sharing over a secure network by allowing police to match investigations that reference the same people or online identities, helping to minimize duplication of effort across police services.
Microsoft Canada has established the CETS Centre of Excellence to support the product and help determine which international agencies will be authorized to use CETS.

Here are some other organizations and resources used in the fight against child exploitation and abuse:

Cybertips.ca

If you come across child pornography online, you can report it to cybertips.ca, a website set-up with the help of the government of Canada. You can also call 1-866-658-9022– that line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This site also provides tips for parents on how to make sure their children don’t fall victim to online predators.

“The public comes into us typically through our online report form. We then have analysts in-house that take that information and triage it, so they would do various look-ups on the Internet (to) try and validate the information,” Cybertips.ca’s director Signy Arnason tells CityNews.ca.

“Anything that’s potentially illegal is forwarded to the jurisdiction we identify the crime is potentially occurring in.”

A 2004 report noted that children under the age of 18 accounted for 23 percent of the Canadian population yet represent 61 percent of sex assault victims.

The Virtual Global Taskforce

This multi-national law enforcement body was established in 2003 and aims to protect and rescue victims of child abuse and exploitation. It’s comprised of the RCMP, the US Department of Homeland Security, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, the National Crime Squad for England and Wales and Interpol.

One of the VGT’s initiatives is Operation PIN. The group set up a website that purports to contain images of child pornography. Once someone tries to download a picture they’re informed that they’ve entered a law enforcement site and that they’re information may be forwarded to the authorities in their area.

If you come across child pornography online, or you know of a child that’s being exploited, you can file a report with this organization, by visiting virtualglobaltaskforce.com.

Toronto Police

You can also report child pornography to the Toronto Police Child Exploitation Unit at (416) 808-8500.

Signs of Child Abuse

When most of us think about child abuse, we get a picture of a youngster being hit. But sadly, there are a lot of other ways that a kid can suffer the slings and arrows of these outrageous fortunes.

Here’s a few of them, along with the signs of each.

Physical abuse

Bruises;
Welts;
Cuts;
Fractures;
Burns;
Internal injuries.

Indicators

Cannot recall how injuries occurred or offers an inconsistent explanation
wary of adults
May cringe or flinch if touched unexpectedly
Infants may display a vacant stare
Extremely aggressive or extremely withdrawn
Indiscriminately seeks affection
Extremely compliant and/or eager to please
Injuries that are not consistent with explanation
Presence of several injuries that are in various stages of healing
Presence of various injuries over a period of time
Facial injuries in infants and preschool children
Injuries inconsistent with the child’s age and developmental phase

Signs of sexual abuse

Age inappropriate play with toys, self or others displaying explicit sexual acts
Age inappropriate sexually explicit drawing and/or descriptions
Bizarre, sophisticated or unusual sexual knowledge
Prostitution
Seductive behaviours
Unusual or excessive itching in the genital or anal area
Torn, stained or bloody underwear (may be observed if the child needs bathroom assistance)
Pregnancy
Injuries to the genital or anal areas, e.g. bruising, swelling or infection
Venereal disease

Emotional abuse

May be the hardest to spot. Consists of methods that injure a child’s self worth, including excessive yelling, rejection, isolation and more.

Indicators:

Severe depression
Extreme withdrawal or aggressiveness
Overly compliant, too well mannered, too neat or clean
Extreme attention seeking
Displays extreme inhibition in play
Bed wetting that is non-medical in origin
Frequent psychosomatic complaints, headaches, nausea, abdominal pains
child fails to thrive

Neglect

Neglect occurs when a caregiver fails to provide basic needs such as adequate food, sleep, safety, supervision, clothing or medical treatment. Most often spotted by someone that has frequent contact with the child, like a teacher.

Indicators: