This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40115549

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Europol shows clues from child abuse images to track offenders Europol shows clues from child abuse images to track offenders
(about 4 hours later)
Europe's police agency has launched a new webpage that displays objects in child sex abuse images to try and find the perpetrators and victims. Europe's police agency has launched a new webpage that displays objects in child sex abuse images to try to find the perpetrators and victims. Europol hopes details like a logo on a bag or a shampoo bottle may alert someone who can then contact police by an anonymous tip-off or social media, writes the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague.
Europol hopes details like a logo on a bag or a shampoo bottle may alert someone who can then contact police by an anonymous tip-off or social media. Tens of thousands of paedophiles are involved in abusing children and distributing the photos and videos online.
All the images are from active cases that detectives are unable to solve. Tools such as live-streaming have increased the ways in which the vulnerable are exploited.
Steven Wilson, chief of Europol's EC3 Cybercrime centre, said mundane objects can sometimes provide a vital lead. Europol wants to harness the global digital reach to capture those creeping behind the cameras.
"We're looking to identify particular parts, particular items in there that may be unique to a particular region in the world, a particular country or even a particular town or village," Mr Wilson told AFP news agency. Investigators call it crowd-knowledge sourcing.
"From that we can then work very closely with other law enforcement authorities and actually identify the people responsible for this." "We have eyes and ears across the whole world," explains Steven Wilson, the Scotsman who heads up Europol's cyber crime unit.
Each magnified image on the webpage, called Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object - has an option underneath it to send an anonymous tip-off or to share the image via social media. "These are normally secretive types of investigations. But we have exhausted all our leads, so this is a last resort. We need the public to help us collect pieces of the jigsaw puzzle."
Europol warned last year that live streaming of child sexual abuse was "a growing threat". Pictures flash up on the screen inside a high-security ops room.
In a report, it said offenders were using increasingly sophisticated techniques, such as encrypted online tools, to stay anonymous and to find new victims. Most of the material the cyber-detectives seize is too disturbing to share. They have chosen two photos, each blurred to obscure the child's identity, to demonstrate how the mundane items appear in the scenes of abuse.
The first shows a young girl wearing a multi-coloured jumper. Her bottom half is bare and exposed to the camera. She is being groomed to take graphic pictures of her genitals.
In the shot you can see a plastic shopping bag. The webmasters have zoomed in on the logo and shared it on the website, in the hope someone will recognise it.
Wil Van Gemert, deputy executive director of Europol's operations department, says: "We're not just talking about family members or a neighbour, but if someone can tell us which country it comes from, there's our lead."
Twenty images at a time will go up on the website, Stop Child Abuse. The first selection includes a ram or unicorn logo on a tiny blue and white polo T-shirt, an orange pamphlet, a medicine bottle behind a baby lying on a changing mat.
Calculated risk
Each photo has an option underneath to send an anonymous tip to Europol or share on social media. The detectives want users to realise the potentially vital role they can play, they believe a few clicks could help to rescue a child.
Past experience has shown a background object can provide a breakthrough.
In one case, Steven Wilson tells us: "There was a trampoline in the garden. We zoomed in and saw a manufacturers' mark. They told us it was only sold in one country - that led us to the right area, and eventually, the suspect."
The officers are aware there is a danger that the perpetrators will spot their pills or their victim's pyjamas and flee before police can reach them.
But they say it is a calculated risk, and the shots have been cropped to remove the sickening evidence of their crimes against children.
This is a pilot project. Europol is hoping to replicate the success of its "Most Wanted" campaign - 35 of the 50 suspects featured online have been apprehended, 11 thanks to tip-offs from the public.
But they say this website is not just about solving cases. It's about saving the children.