Warning: distressing content

It was a race against time. In a deep dive into a child abuse offender’s computer, they find a hidden file of a young girl, apparently being filmed against her will.

The Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) kicks in. While part of its job is to gather evidence against offenders and identify criminal syndicates, its priority is to find and rescue the kids at risk.

Australian Federal Police examining seized equipment.Credit: Australian Federal Police

Frame by frame they look for clues. Is the furniture specific to a country? What about the clothes? Is the accent unique? Is there a metadata clue? Has the child’s image already been identified along with millions of files held in the INTERPOL International Child Sexual Exploitation database?

AFP Commander (Human Exploitation) Helen Schneider says the process can take “weeks, months or even years”.

To make matters worse, this time it is a waste of time. An international syndicate has used AI to generate the image. There is no girl to save – there is no girl at all.

“Our greatest fear is that while we are working on a case where there aren’t real victims, there are others waiting to be rescued,” she says.

The syndicates use AI to create “synthetic” images, alter previously made child abuse material, and superimpose pictures of kids on fake images. This means these rings can generate thousands of images with little effort.

Schneider says it is still an offence to generate, purchase or view such material.

In July, a Melbourne man was sentenced to 13 months’ jail for using an AI program to create 793 child images.

Crooks have an advantage over cops. They lead the chase and police usually have to follow.

An AFP tech dog on a child protection raid.Credit: Australian Federal Police

This means the crooks may be in Africa and the victim in Armadale. Sophisticated crime is now international while police remain local.

Each state and country has different laws and standards. For crooks there is only one law: the law of supply and demand. Syndicates will provide anything for a price, and that includes child abuse material.

Organised crime syndicates can argue they simply provide products such as drugs, sex and booze to a willing market – that they are “victimless crimes”. Except when you are using kids. Then the pretence is stripped away.

In this area, Schneider says, there is international law enforcement co-operation, with police around the world sharing........

© The Age