*Warning: This article discusses child sexual abuse
Thomas didn’t always look at child sexual abuse material. He says, it started with legal pornography.
“Some of the links are so unclear that you can find yourself going on to something that you shouldn't be.”
Thomas said he accessed the material when out of work and recovering from surgery. After he returned to work, he didn't look at the images again, but did not delete all traces from his computer.
“I had no sexual interest in children. It's not something that interested me,” he said.
“There was an element of curiosity, fascination, whatever you like to call it...and that probably got me looking at things that I shouldn’t have been.”
Thomas was arrested after a friend saw some images on his computer, and reported him to the police. He was sentenced to 19 months prison, which was appealed. He served a total of three months and was put on the sex offenders registry.
Internet Watch Foundation, a charity that removes images and videos of child sexual abuse from the internet, recorded 77 per cent increase in the amount of “self-generated” abuse material last year.
According to the UK Safe Internet Centre, self-generated content can include child sexual abuse content created using webcams, sometimes in the child’s own room, and then shared online. In some cases, children are coerced, deceived or extorted into producing and sharing a sexual image or video of themselves.
They attributed the increase to predatory online groomers, and the children they target, spending longer online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On his offence, he told Dateline, “I’m very regretful for having done it.”
After his arrest, he contacted Stop It Now, a confidential hotline in the UK designed to help people control dangerous sexual behaviour. He is one of 53,000 people in the UK to have engaged with the service.
He then entered a program, which helped identify his triggers, to prevent further offending.
Donald Findlater, the director of Stop It Now! Said that during the pandemic, their call load increased by almost 50 per cent.
He says the majority of people viewing children sexual abuse material started with a legal pornography habit.
“They've gone down this rabbit hole of interest … and they'll be mortified by what they've seen, but some of them unfortunately will get fascinated by that.”
The amount of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) available on the internet is increasing. In the past 12 months alone, there has been a 70 per cent increase in CSAM material detected by Australia’s Office of the eSafety Commissioner, a government agency promoting online safety.
Experts say this trend has been observed globally during the pandemic, when more people are at home.
A service like Stop It Now! does not exist in Australia. But a Melbourne charity is fighting to establish it.
Julie Edwards, the CEO of Jesuit Social Services, is leading the campaign to have a similar prevention service in the country.
“It would offer an anonymous and confidential service for people who are having thoughts that are concerning them about sexually abusing children,” she said.
“It's targeted at men who are having their first thoughts of sexually abusing children or using child exploitation material.”
According to her resources and research, she says there is a ten year, there is a ten-year period between when someone has worrying thoughts about children, to when they commit an offence.
The 2017 Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse recommended a “information and help-seeking services to support people who are concerned they may be at risk of sexually abusing children,” explicitly recommending a service like Stop It Now!
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs told SBS Dateline says that they are pursuing “evidence-based initiatives” for intervention before a child is harmed.
“The Government has invested $800,000 into the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Child Exploitation Material Reduction Research Program. This will fund eight projects focused on best practice approaches to addressing child abuse material offending.”
The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, are proposing Stop It Now! In Australia. Julie Edwards says lack of funding is preventing a pilot.
“We're ready to go. We want to see this pilot for stop it now, get going in Australia, as soon as possible,” she said.
“Most child abuse [services] are targeted at victims, which is very important, but there is hardly anything in the perpetrator space,” she said.
“And if it is in the perpetrator space it’s usually after they have caused serious harm to people.”
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at and kidshelpline.com.au.
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, Blue Knot on 1300 657 380 or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency call 000.
