Online child exploitation complaints in Alberta on the rise, police say

An Alberta police officer is warning parents about a website that puts children at risk of online sexual exploitation as his team deals with a continued increase in luring, grooming, sextortion and other complaints.

Edmonton-based RCMP Sgt. Kerry Shima, who works with the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) internet child exploitation unit, took to social media this month to remind parents of the dangers of Omegle — a platform that allows participants to connect with random strangers.

"What we're really dealing with is predators waiting for kids to come online and ... it's literally seconds, and we're getting somebody asking for pictures," Shima told CBC News in an interview Tuesday. 

Omegle is a U.S.-based website that does not require a user to register or log on. Participants simply check a box to verify they are 18 years or older before randomly connecting with strangers via text or video.

Shima says predators posing as youth encourage kids to move to another chat app such as Instagram or Snapchat and send naked images or perform sexual acts.

The predator then threatens to expose the child to family and friends if demands for images, money or gift cards aren't met.

"We've all been teenagers before. We know what friends mean to us and our reputation means to us. And being humiliated in such a fashion would be terrible," Shima said. 

"So they usually try to mitigate it themselves without asking for help. And it becomes a vicious circle."

Complaints soar

ALERT's internet child exploitation unit expects that at the current rate it will see around 1,500 complaints in 2022 — a 26 per cent increase over last year. The number of complaints will have increased by 139 per cent since 2018.

The rise is partly due to an increase in public awareness and a decrease in stigma, Shima said.

Another reason, according to the Winnipeg-based Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P), is the amount of online access kids have.

"These apps and services aren't really moderated and individuals who are seeking to exploit children either for sexual imagery or for a financial gain, they realize that children are vulnerable in these spaces," said Stephen Sauer, director of Cybertip.ca, C3P's tipline.

In the past six months, 496 incidents have been reported to C3P by victims seeking support or families looking for intervention in the luring of a child. That's a 43 per cent increase from the previous six months, Sauer said.

Talk to kids

Shima urges parents and guardians to open the lines of communication with their kids, gain their trust, and teach them to respect themselves. He also recommends knowing how apps work so it's easier to talk about them.

He said it's important to recognize the signs of grooming, including a sudden increased need for privacy or an increase in cash and expensive clothing.

But C3P says the burden should not be shouldered by parents alone. During an Oct. 6 meeting between online sexual violence victims and federal government officials, C3P reiterated its call to strengthen regulatory protection that ensures  companies put appropriate protections for children in place.

Ian McLeod, a spokesperson for Department of Justice Canada, said in an emailed statement that Canada's existing criminal laws against child sexual exploitation "are amongst the most comprehensive in the world."

In addition, the Mandatory Reporting Act requires all internet service providers to report to police any child pornography they find on their servers, he said.

The government has supported C3P since a National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet was put in place in 2004, McLeod said.