TRIGGER WARNING: The following content contains images and details that may be distressing.
Editor’s note: Trace an Object images are available on Hightail.
Tropical flowers spread across patterned pink bedspreads.
Red football jerseys framed for posterity.
A kitchen complete with internet modem, window blinds and coffee mugs.
To the ordinary eye, these photographs look like mere slices of everyday life. But for the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) they’re tiny clues that could help to identify, save and support victims of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE).
The images described above form part of the fourth Australian release of Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object, which began as a Europol initiative and involves the public release of ‘cold case’ OCSE images in search of community help to identify their origins.
This latest collection contains nine separate photos, which are each known to have an Australian nexus of either victim, location or offender.
While the photos have been censored to remove graphic material, the idea is the different knowledge sets, life experiences and locales of Australians right across the country might unearth useful information or insights.
Victim Identification Team Leader, Detective Sergeant Lana Carey, explained how it might work.
“One of the photos from this latest Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object release shows two framed football jerseys, so, in putting it out into public, we’re looking to spark the memory of anyone who might have come across them,” Det Sgt Carey said.
“Possibilities here could include a player or club member who might recognise the jersey colours or design, a framer who might remember doing the job, or a fan who might know the significance of the number 8 and 11 jerseys being grouped together.
“It’s about tapping into the wisdom of everyday Australians. And we know they’re eager to play a role given the previous three image releases have generated 1372 reports and counting.”
Det Sgt Carey noted every photo in this fourth collection represented a ‘cold case’ where all available lines of inquiry had been exhausted. But that didn’t mean they were seen as dead ends.
“Our identification specialists never give up on a victim,” she said. “We follow every lead and avenue we have when files first come into the ACCCE, and if we don’t succeed, we will continue to visit them periodically year after year after year after year to see if new intelligence or technology might open up fresh lines of inquiry.
“It’s about the never-ending hunt for closure, the commitment to saving and supporting victims and survivors and, hopefully, that bittersweet moment when you realise you’ve solved it.”
AFP Commander Human Exploitation Helen Schneider said images of online child sexual exploitation came into the ACCCE from a variety of sources, including Victim ID taskforces and the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Regardless of their provenance, they shared one common factor – the determination of the people tasked with identifying them, frame by painstaking frame.
“Our victim identification team members receive fresh images of online child sexual exploitation every single day,” Commander Schneider said.
“And every new file carries just as much horror and trauma for the victim as the one before it.
“Every one of them represents a life upended, so when team members take on a case they never give up; it’s our version of looking for a needle in a haystack.
“We know community leads can make or break an investigation, so we encourage people to remember that any tip they give us – no matter how small – could change the life of a victim.”
See the images online at accce.gov.au/trace where you can make a report of information.
About the images in this release
- 2501006: This image is of two sporting jerseys – one marked with the number 8 and the other with the number 11 – and the ACCCE believes there is significance in having them framed together. It’s already known they aren’t a commercial product; they would relate to a local football club.
- 2501008: The ACCCE knows the abuse material from this series was likely produced about 2014-2015. This means the anklet could well have been worn by a woman who’s now in her early 20s, and could be recognisable to the victim, their friends or family.
- 2501009: This bedroom setting is thought to date back to circa 2015. Contrary to expectation, its focus is not the playmat, which has already been identified. Instead, the ACCCE is looking for people who might have seen the mat in a similar environment. These could be builders, real estate agents or domestic cleaners, particularly anyone who might recognise the yellow patterned carpet.
- 2501007: The image has been heavily sanitised, but it shows a dress. More specifically, a dress which would appear to have been handmade or bought at a community market, as opposed to being mass produced and sold by a common retailer. For this reason, the ACCCE hopes dressmakers, anyone working in fabric stores or market stall holders might remember seeing clothes like this for sale.
- 2501004: At first glance, this might seem like a fairly average kitchen or kitchenette. But the key clue could be in small details, such as a brand of tile or appliance recognised by a tiler or appliance stocker/seller, or the way it’s laid out as recognised by a builder, realtor or domestic cleaner.
- 2501003: This image dates back to a Queensland bedroom in 2009 and includes a cane chair alongside the single bedframes and floral-patterned quilt covers. It’s a fairly uncommon combination, so could well trigger a memory, either for the person whose bedroom it was, or a friend or family member who remembers visiting.
- 2301004: This sliver of a bedroom is the oldest image in this fourth release of Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object, with the radio bedhead thought to date back to between September 2000 and October 2002. The team already knows a few things, including the brand of radio in this bedhead. But not the location of the room or people connected with it, or the context of items such as the computer chair, speckled cream carpet, mattress, wall covering, carpet, lights, mirror and side tables, noting they may have changed colour or been renovated over time. Information sources could be builders, realtors or domestic cleaners.
- 2102001: The ACCCE knows this distinctive owl pillow is sold overseas. What it now seeks is information about where it is, or has been, sold in Australia, given it’s not handmade. This could catch the eye of families, retail staff, interior design enthusiasts or, again, realtors or cleaners.
- 2301001: This image, estimated from circa 2017, was chosen for Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object as it showcases several distinct architectural features that may lend themselves to recognition. These include the balustrade and fireplace, as well as the tile and parquetry flooring in front. Visit the ACCCE website Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object.
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the ACCCE is driving a collaborative national approach.
The ACCCE brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into online child sexual exploitation and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.
Members of the public who have information about people involved in child abuse are urged to contact the ACCCE. If you know abuse is happening right now, or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 000.
If you, or someone you know, is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, support services are available.
Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protect children online can be found at the ThinkUKnow website, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
For more information on the role of the ACCCE, what online child sexual exploitation is and how to report it visit the ACCCE website.
Notes to media
Use of term 'CHILD ABUSE' MATERIAL not ‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’
The correct legal term is Child Abuse Material – the move to this wording was among amendments to Commonwealth legislation in 2019 to more accurately reflect the gravity of the crimes and the harm inflicted on victims.
Use of the phrase ‘child pornography’ is inaccurate and benefits child sex abusers because it:
- indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim and therefore legality on the part of the abuser; and
- conjures images of children posing in 'provocative' positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse.
Every photograph or video captures an actual situation where a child has been abused.