Online child sexual exploitation rates have tripled in Canada since 2014

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Online child sexual exploitation rates more than tripled in Canada between 2014 and 2022.

According to new research from Statistics Canada, police were only able to solve two in five online sexual offences against children in that period.

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"Online child sexual exploitation, including the transmission of material related to child sexual abuse, sexting, sextortion, grooming and luring, and live child sexual abuse streaming has been on the rise," the Statics Canada report explained.

It attributed the increase to a possible combination of factors, including a potential rise in crime, more awareness and reporting from the public, and improved police detection efforts.

Police-reported data shows online child sexual exploitation rates in Canada have risen sharply from 50 incidents per 100,000 children in 2014 to 160 in 2022. This was largely driven by an almost fourfold increase in the incident rate of online child sexual abuse material, which is also referred to as child pornography.Overall, Canadian police recorded 15,630 incidents of online sexual offences against children and 45,816 incidents of online child sexual abuse material between 2014 and 2022.

In that period, just 41 per cent of online sexual offences against children were considered solved by police. Charges were laid or recommended in 74 per cent of solved incidents.

Only 34 per cent of adults, however, were found guilty after being charged, compared with 44 per cent of those tried in youth court. The majority of all charges were stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged. Of those found guilty, adult offenders were most likely to receive prison sentences (78 per cent) while young offenders were more likely to receive probation (62 per cent).

The Statistics Canada report also tracked the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, which became an offence in 2015. Over 1,700 incidents like this were reported to police between 2015 and 2022, with victims largely being youth aged 12 to 17 (97 per cent) and girls (86 per cent). The accused in such cases tended to be male, similar in age and known to their victims

"Like trends in violent crime overall, especially sexual offences, boys and men accounted for the vast majority of accused persons in incidents of online sexual offences against children from 2014 to 2022," Statistics Canada explained. "An incident may remain uncleared (that is, unsolved) for various reasons: it could still be under investigation or there may be insufficient evidence to proceed with a charge."