Child porn sharing is becoming increasingly more prevalent on popular internet applications like Facebook and Skype, according to a Saskatchewan RCMP Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit officer.
“People will find almost any method that’s available to them to locate and share child pornography on the internet,” Staff Sgt. Scott Lambie, the ICE unit’s provincial coordinator, said in an interview on Tuesday.
“People should be aware that just as people can share family photos, pedophiles can share child pornography images.”
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Saskatoon courts recently heard cases that highlight Lambie’s comments. In April Philip Chicoine, 27, admitted to paying for live child sex shows on Skype, while Shane Pattison, 27, pleaded guilty in June to sharing child porn in group chats on Kik Messenger.
The illicit material used to be commonly shared and accessed in the dark corners of the internet, which couldn’t be found by traditional search engines, according to Lambie, however that has recently changed.
“In the last half dozen years or so it’s definitely come to the forefront that these internet applications and phone applications are being used more and more,” he said.
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Lambie said the easy-to-access applications have grown Saskatchewan’s child porn offender base and played a role in increasing the ICE unit’s workload. Prior to 2015 he said investigators averaged around 200 cases a year, however that number has since doubled.
In an effort to keep children safe, Lambie said parents should be aware of what their kids are doing on the internet and their phones, since many popular social media applications provide anonymity to child predators.
If someone does come across child porn on the internet, it’s best to report the content to their local police department, Lambie suggested.
“We’re very well trained and informed on how these applications work and can exploit any application that’s out there to locate these offenders.”