Members of Alberta's Law Enforcement Response Team's (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) are deeply concerned about the substantial increase in investigation referrals since the pandemic began. 

The ICE unit, which investigates online instances of child exploitation in Alberta, has experienced a record number of investigative referrals during the past month. For the month of March, ICE received 243 reported instances of online child exploitation in Alberta, far exceeding the unit’s two-year average of roughly 110.

During the first three months of 2020, ICE made 21 arrests and laid 61 charges in communities big and small across the province. As a result of these arrests, four children were rescued from sexual exploitation, abuse and/or instances of luring.

With digital classes pushing most students online, it appears the amount of online predators has also increased.

A spokesperson for ALERT Mike Tucker says the great thing about the internet is also a big problem for them, and that's the ability for it to be so open and easy to connect with people.

Unfortunately, predators use this to their advantage. 

"The problem with that openness of the internet is in a lot of cases there are people who are looking to exploit those relationships and take advantage and gain access to children who are vulnerable through a wide variety of applications. I'm really cautious in singling out one application in particular because the onus is on the parents to be really aware of the vulnerabilities that each app presents, whether that's looking at privacy and security settings, but also taking time to get to know how these are being used and who your children are interacting with online. You take the time to get to know their friends in the real world, you need to invest the same in finding out who they are talking to in the digital world."

Tucker says with multiple video conferencing apps out there to choose from, parents and teachers must ensure their children aren't vulnerable to online exploitation.

"It really is an onus on the parents to have these conversations with their children, as difficult as it may seem. And I know there's some naivety involved in thinking, 'well my child would never do that, or they would never put themselves in that situation'. But it sadly happens, and you'd hate to be on the tail end of having to report some of that. Thankfully, there's great resources available online with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. ICE is partnered with them to help raise awareness and provide some of those tools to parents."

Tucker says during this time where many students are learning digitally at home, parents and teachers must be extra vigilant in monitoring their child online activity.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has information on its site dedicated to supporting families during the COVID-19 crisis, including resources for families and caregivers; schools and educators; and child serving organizations. This information is available on their website here: The Canadian Centre for Child Protection. 

Anyone with information about any child exploitation offence is encouraged to contact local police or cybertip.ca.

Photo courtesy of ALERT.