Latest news with #childExploitation
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
‘Urgent' forum to combat AI child abuse
Experts and authorities on child exploitation material will meet for emergency meetings this week as the amount of AI-generated abuse explodes. The National Children's Commissioner will meet fellow experts in Canberra on Thursday for the roundtable discussions. 'We are seeing AI generate entirely new types of child abuse material. This is a turning point,' international expert Jon Rouse said. Figures from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children show AI use has massively increased among predators. The centre reports a 1325 per cent increase in child sexual exploitation material reports involving generative AI, up from 4700 in 2023 to more than 67,000 in 2024. While based in the US, the centre works closely with law enforcement around the world. The meeting in Canberra has been called to discuss responses to AI-generated child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, automated grooming and childlike AI personas. 'This roundtable represents a pivotal moment for child protection in Australia,' International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia chief executive Colm Gannon said. 'AI is being weaponised to harm children, and Australia must act swiftly to prevent these technologies from outpacing our systems of protection.' Australian of the Year Grace Tame will lend her expertise to the roundtable, as will representatives from the eSafety Commissioner, child protection organisation Bravehearts, and Childlight Australia. 'If we act now, Australia can set a global benchmark for ethical AI and child protection,' Mr Gannon said.
News.com.au
13-07-2025
- News.com.au
‘Act now': National meeting to combat AI child abuse
Experts and authorities on child exploitation material will meet for emergency meetings this week as the amount of AI-generated abuse explodes. The National Children's Commissioner will meet fellow experts in Canberra on Thursday for the roundtable discussions. 'We are seeing AI generate entirely new types of child abuse material. This is a turning point,' international expert Jon Rouse said. Figures from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children show AI use has massively increased among predators. The centre reports a 1325 per cent increase in child sexual exploitation material reports involving generative AI, up from 4700 in 2023 to more than 67,000 in 2024. While based in the US, the centre works closely with law enforcement around the world. The meeting in Canberra has been called to discuss responses to AI-generated child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, automated grooming and childlike AI personas. 'This roundtable represents a pivotal moment for child protection in Australia,' International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia chief executive Colm Gannon said. 'AI is being weaponised to harm children, and Australia must act swiftly to prevent these technologies from outpacing our systems of protection.' Australian of the Year Grace Tame will lend her expertise to the roundtable, as will representatives from the eSafety Commissioner, child protection organisation Bravehearts, and Childlight Australia. 'If we act now, Australia can set a global benchmark for ethical AI and child protection,' Mr Gannon said.
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Daily Mail
High-flying executive at one of Australia's Big Four banks accused of inviting a teenage girl to have sex with him in a hotel room
A once-respected banking executive has been arrested at Sydney airport and accused of trying to have sex with teenage girls in his hotel room. Christopher James McCann, 50, was charged on Tuesday with one count of using electronic communication to procure a child under 16 for a sexual act. McCann, who worked at a Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, allegedly tried to find two teenage girls for sex in a Brisbane hotel, reported. Prosecutors will allege McCann had sought the help of an 18-year-old sex worker he met while in the city in May. The group allegedly met in McCann's hotel before a concerned worker alerted police after becoming suspicious. Following a two-month joint investigation, a warrant for his arrest was granted by a Queensland Court and McCann was promptly arrested at Sydney Airport. The banking executive was then extradited to Brisbane on July 9 before his case was mentioned at Brisbane Arrest Court on Friday. His defence attorney, Evan O'Hanlon-Rose, attempted to secure bail for McCann but this motion was delayed after a second person was accused of the same crime. Shauntelle Went was charged with the same offence and now stands as McCann's co-accused. Police prosecutor Jordan Theed told the court the case was 'unusual' because Mr McCann allegedly used an 18-year-old sex worker to procure a child. Magistrate Julian Noud found it was best to handle both cases together and McCann and Went were both remanded to custody, The Daily Telegraph reported. New South Wales' state crime command's sex crimes squad established Strike Force Coalhurst in March to investigate McCann. It then referred the matter to Queensland Police Service's child exploitation unit Argos after it discovered McCann's attempts to procure a minor. Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty, Commander of the NSW Police Force Sex Crimes Squad, said states are working together kept children safe everywhere. 'Working closely with Queensland Police, we were able to track a suspect who believed interstate travel would allow him to evade detection. He was wrong,' she said. 'These joint efforts demonstrate that our law enforcement capabilities don't stop at state borders. 'If you fly interstate to commit crimes, know that our reach is national.' Cameron Burke, Argos' Detective Acting Inspector, said sexual predators seeking to harm children will not be tolerated anywhere in Australia. 'Argos investigators and police across the country work collaboratively to share information, intelligence and investigative assistance,' he said. 'We are constantly online, working tirelessly to identify and apprehend offenders.' The case has been adjourned until July 14.
BBC News
05-07-2025
- BBC News
County lines drug dealing crackdown in Suffolk leads to arrests
A week-long police operation aimed at tackling county lines drug dealing has resulted in 30 arrests. Suffolk Police said eight supply lines were also disrupted and 1.46kg (3.2lb) of drugs with an estimated street value of about £148,000 was seized. The operation was part of a national crackdown on county lines activities, aimed at reducing child exploitation and child criminal exploitation in particular. Det Supt Tam Burgess said: "We have had some excellent results, with a number of those arrested quickly charged and remanded." 'Intimidating behaviours' County lines is when illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries, and often by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs, said police. The county line is the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs."People involved in county lines are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money often using coercive, intimidating behaviours including use and threats of violence and weapons," said Det Supt Burgess.A range of awareness events and vulnerability checks took place and officers were trained to help them better identify and respond to victims of child exploitation. Drugs, cash and weapons were seized, including cannabis plants and edibles, more than £10,000 in cash, two knives and 37 mobile phones. Of the 30 people arrested, seven have been charged and remanded into custody. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- The Guardian
Greater Manchester police investigating over 1,000 grooming gang suspects
Greater Manchester police are investigating more than 1,000 grooming gang suspects, as a new report found the force was 'trying to provide a better service to those who have experienced sexual exploitation'. The force has made 'significant improvements' in how it investigates grooming gangs and other types of child sexual abuse offences, according to the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. The report looks at the way grooming gangs and other child sexual offences are handled by the police, health bodies and the 10 councils across Greater Manchester. It said police had live investigations into 'multi-victim, multi-offender' child sexual exploitation cases involving 714 victims and survivors and 1,099 suspects. 'We found that since 2019, when Greater Manchester police started to review its non-recent child sexual exploitation investigations, the force has improved its understanding and approach to investigating allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation,' the inspector of constabulary for the northern region, Michelle Skeer, said. 'It is clear that the force has, for many years, been trying to provide a better service to those who have or may have experienced sexual exploitation. 'But for some, trust and confidence in the police had been lost, and the force would not be able to rectify their experiences. 'It is vital that improvements are led by victims' experiences, and if they do come forward, they are supported, protected and taken seriously.' At a press conference, GMP's chief constable, Sir Stephen Watson, said those who had failed victims in the past 'should face justice like anyone else'. He continued: 'To those who are responsible for these repugnant crimes – as is now very apparent – we will pursue you relentlessly.' The chief constable said the role ethnicity played in grooming gang offending was a 'legitimate question' and may be explored in a future national inquiry. A recent report by Louise Casey found that Asian men were significantly over-represented as suspects in grooming gangs in Greater Manchester, saying authorities were in 'denial', and that more needed to be done to understand why this was the case. GMP is the only force in the country to set up a dedicated team to investigate grooming gangs, which it did in 2021, now called the child sexual exploitation major investigation team (CSE MIT), with about 100 staff and a ringfenced budget. The force approaches child sexual exploitation as it does serious and organised crime gangs, using specialist tactics. The report identified improvements that could be made in order to better address the issue and progress investigations. These included data sharing, with local councils sometimes not willing to provide detectives with information, leading to 'significant delays in investigations'. The report said intelligence provided by Manchester city council took months to arrive and 'was so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words'. So far the CSE MIT and the earlier grooming gang investigations have resulted in 42 convictions, with offenders imprisoned for a total of more than 430 years. Other investigations are ongoing, with several more trials scheduled. In a statement, Greater Manchester's mayor, Andy Burnham, said: 'I am confident in my view that the Greater Manchester system is in a demonstrably different and far stronger place today than it was when the failings happened.' He added: 'The effect of the assurance review I commissioned has been to usher in widespread culture change across all GM bodies. Never again will any child here be labelled or dismissed when they come forward to report concerns. 'Now the national inquiry is being put in place, we must allow victims the space and the right climate to have their voices heard, allow the actual truth to be established and accountability delivered.'
