The Australian Federal Police (AFP) are asking the Australian public to ‘Trace an Object’ in an effort to help it solve child sexual abuse investigations.
The AFP has released images extracted from child sexual abuse cold cases to create a world-leading project in the endeavor to rescue more children.
The Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object initiative is publishing nine non-confrontational images that can be seen in child exploitation material, such as pieces of clothing or bedding.
Assistant AFP Commissioner Lesa Gale said investigators believed the victims were in the Asia Pacific region – including Australia – and were calling on the public to view the images and contact the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) if they recognised any of them.
“The project was developed by the ACCCE and is based on the highly-successful initiative devised by Europol,” Assistant Commissioner Gale said.
“No child is ever forgotten and investigators never give up. Child sexual abuse is abhorrent and we need every member of the community to be our eyes and ears to help police save victims and arrest perpetrators.’’
She said the images included pieces of clothing, furniture and household items.
“If you recognise an object and any details about its origin — be it from a shop, location or time period — please report it via the ACCCE website. You can do so securely and anonymously,” Assistant Commissioner Gale said.
“No clue is too small. Your small tip could be the information we need to rescue a child from significant harm.”
She said the ACCCE’s world-leading Victim Identification Unit examined the most abhorrent material imaginable, frame by frame, looking for clues and commonalities.
Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton said the initiative that originated from Europol in 2017 gave the community an opportunity to help law enforcement crack cases that were yet to be solved.
“Members of the public can view a range of objects with the intention to identify the origin of the particular piece of clothing or other item that could result in an offender and victim being both identified and located,” Mr Dutton said.
“These small, everyday objects can sometimes end up being a key lead in an investigation — the smallest clue can often help solve a case.”
