Source: washingtonpost.com 6/19/23 The revolution in artificial intelligence has sparked an explosion of disturbingly lifelike images showing child sexual exploitation, fueling concerns among child-safety investigators that they will undermine efforts to find victims and combat real-world abuse. Generative-AI tools have set off what one analyst called a “predatory arms race” on pedophile forums because they can create within seconds realistic images of children performing sex acts, commonly known as child pornography. Thousands of AI-generated child-sex images have been found on forums across the dark web, a layer of…
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France: Victims lose €3.5m in scam accusing them of viewing child abuse images
Source: theguardian.com 6/23/23 Eighteen arrests in France and one in Belgium over false emails threatening people with prosecution Police in France and Belgium say they have smashed a criminal ring that used fake court summonses accusing people of viewing child sexual abuse images to extort at least €3.5m (£3m). The phishing scam involved false emails from police, judges or institutions such as Europol threatening victims with prosecution unless they paid a “fine”. Police said they arrested 18 people in France and one in Belgium in an operation on Monday, with…
Read MoreEurope: Commission unveils law to fight child sexual abuse online amid swelling privacy fears
Source: politico.eu 5/11/23 The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a law to force digital companies to find, report and remove online child sexual abuse material circulating on their platforms. As reported by POLITICO, Google, Apple, and Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram could be faced with court orders to hunt down photos and videos of child abuse or else face hefty fines of up to 6 percent of their global revenue. Companies would also have to clamp down on grooming — conversations where offenders try to inappropriately connect with children. The proposals…
Read MoreMalaysia: Sex offender gets 263-year sentence and 20 lashes
Source: themalaysianinsight.com 5/15/23 A MAN [no name given!] was sentenced to 263 years in prison and 20 lashes after pleading guilty at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court today to 32 charges of committing sexual crimes against his now 16-year-old stepdaughter over the past three years. The swimming instructor was sentenced after all the charges were read out by a court interpreter in two separate proceedings before Judge Dharmafikri Abu Adam and Judge Mohd Sabri Ismail. However, the court ordered the sentence against the 36-year-old accused to run concurrently for 35 years…
Read MoreUK: Sex offender monitoring must be reformed before system is overwhelmed – report
Source: independent.co.uk 4/27/23 The Government must reform how freed sex offenders are monitored before the system is overwhelmed, a review has warned. Led by former chief constable of Derbyshire Police Mick Creedon, the report said there is a “pressing” need to reform the system due to a “growing volume” of sex offenders in the past 20 years. In particular, the review into the police-led management of sex offenders in the community examined the current system of Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). These are the set of arrangements by which…
Read MoreUK: Charity film urges child sex abuse viewers to stop and contact helpline
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com 4/25/23 A new short film which aims to act as a “wake-up call” to people viewing child sex abuse images online has been released by a charity urging offenders to call its helpline and put a stop to their behaviour. The Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF), which runs a helpline for those concerned about accessing images of children being abused, warned that people who offend online “come from all backgrounds and walks of life and don’t conform to stereotypes”, so everyone must be aware of the risks. Last month…
Read MoreJapan to ban upskirting, non-consensual sexual videos for first time
Source: yahoo.com 5/2/23 Japanese lawmakers will be introducing a bill against upskirting and taking sexually exploitative images or videos of others without consent. The bill banning “photo voyeurism” was submitted in the Japanese Diet, the national legislature of the country, to prevent individuals from taking surreptitious photographs in a sexually exploitative nature. The bill, which is set to be the country’s first law against taking sexually explicit photos and videos, is part of Japan’s sex crimes overhaul, which also expands the definition of rape. It is expected to be passed…
Read MoreRoman Polanski, 1977 rape victim Samantha Geimer smile for social media snap
Source: foxnews.com 5/1/23 Controversial director Roman Polanski reunited with Samantha Geimer, the woman he pled guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than 40 years ago. Geimer was 13 years old at the time Polanski – who was in his 40s – was arrested and charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, providing controlled substances to a minor, and lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14. Following his guilty plea in 1977, Polanski fled the country and became a fugitive, first finding refuge…
Read MoreCanada: Liberals propose changes to Canada’s sex offender registry in response to Supreme Court decision
Source: ctvnews.ca 4/26/23 The federal government has tabled legislation that, if passed, would make changes to Canada’s sex offender registry to specify which categories of sexual offenders have to be added to the national tracking system, while giving judges discretion to exempt those who do not pose a risk of reoffending. The proposed changes to current law comes in response to an October 2022 ruling from the Supreme Court that deemed it unconstitutional to require automatic registration of all people convicted of sexual crimes and an overreach to require mandatory…
Read MoreCanada: Sharing intimate images without consent may soon land you on sex offender list
Source: globalnews.ca 4/26/23 The federal government has introduced legislation to add the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and extortion to the list of offences that could land someone on the National Sex Offender Registry. The addition was highlighted in a statement on Wednesday, ahead of a press conference from Justice Minister David Lametti and Women, Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien. The bill in question was introduced in the Senate earlier in the afternoon. “Sexual offences are amongst the most heinous and degrading forms of violence. They have devastating…
Read MoreNew UN-backed legal recommendations normalize sex with minors, outraged critics say
Source: foxnews.com 4/17/23 A shocking report issued by international legal experts with the backing of the United Nations appears to open the floodgates to normalize sex with minors. “Sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law,” the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists wrote in March with an assist from UNAIDS and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report is titled “The 8 March Principles for a Human Rights-Based Approach to…
Read MoreINTERPOL and UNICEF sign cooperation agreement to address child sexual exploitation and abuse
Source: unicef.org 4/13/23 The two organizations to coordinate efforts to support governments in protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse, including in digital environments LYON, France/NEW YORK, 13 April 2023 – INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell have signed an agreement of cooperation that will support national governments around the world to prevent and address online child sexual exploitation and abuse and other child protection issues. Under the new agreement, the two organizations will cooperate in supporting national law enforcement agencies globally to improve their…
Read MoreIreland: Sex offender allowed move back into family home
Source: roscommonherald.ie 3/20/23 A father and convicted sex offender is to be immediately allowed to return home to live with his wife and children after spending more than two and a half years apart. The man moved out of the family home in September 2020 as part of a Tusla safety plan for his three children aged under 18. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency (CFA) intervened after discovering that the man is a convicted sex offender. Now, after living alone away from the family since September 2020, Judge Mary…
Read MoreUK: Domestic abusers to be added to violent and sex offender register in new crackdown
Source: news.sky.com 2/20/23 The most dangerous domestic abusers will be recorded on the violent and sex offender register under new proposals aimed at better protecting the public. Around 2.4 million people in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the last year, with around one in five homicides related to it, according to the Home Office. Starting immediately, anyone jailed for 12 months or more for coercive control, including suspended sentences, will be placed on the violent and sex offender register. This means they will have to tell police their…
Read MoreMexico: Court closes to the public registry of sex offenders of the CDMX
Source: eluniversal.com.mx 2/16/23 [NOTE: This article is in Spanish, so we used online translation to get the following English version. Of course, there may be translation errors] Faced with the argument of violating the right to social reintegration and the presumption of innocence of the sentenced, the Court closes the registry to the public. The vote for its validity will take place on Monday, February 20 The Public Registry of Sex Offenders (RPAS) of Mexico City, created in 2020, violates the right to social reintegration, generates stigma and a double…
Read MoreCanada: High-risk offender in Yarmouth County banished from Canada for 2 years
Source: cbc.ca 1/5/23 A provincial court judge in Shelburne, N.S., has banished a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen from the country for two years, in what he described as an “extremely extraordinary” sentencing. Allen ____, 64, was charged with two counts of criminal harassment last month after he was accused of stalking a 25-year-old woman in Yarmouth on two occasions, in October and December respectively. The RCMP also issued a public notification in December describing ____ as a high-risk offender. More than two decades ago, he was convicted of sexual offences in the United States that…
Read MoreMeta cracks down on teen “sextortion” on Facebook, Instagram
Source: arstechnica.com 11/21/22 Teens will finally have a way to proactively stop the spread of intimate images. Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) released data showing that it received overwhelmingly more reports of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) from Facebook than any other web service it tracked. Where other popular social platforms like Twitter and TikTok had tens of thousands of reports, Facebook had 22 million. Today, Facebook announced new efforts to limit the spread of some of that CSAM on its platforms. Partnering with…
Read MoreCanada: Despite no public sex offender registry, recidivism rate has dropped by nearly 70%
Source: myscience.org 12/20/22 Study led by Professor Patrick Lussier shows significant decline in recidivism of sex crimes in Canada over 80 years Encouraging news: between 1940 and 2019, the recidivism rate of sex offenders in this country has dropped by nearly 70%, according to a study published in the journal Criminology and Public Policy. Improved knowledge of sexual offending and training of criminal justice officials could explain these results, argues Patrick Lussier, a professor at the School of Social Work and Criminology and leader of the meta-analysis. Over a two-year…
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