Child sex crimes are a global problem and Bermuda is not immune to any of these horrific offences, Interpol experts said yesterday.

They warned that major crimes such as sexual abuse, images of children being abused and trafficking affected every nation — not just developing or poor ones.

Four delegates attending the 32nd meeting of the Interpol Specialists Group on Crimes Against Children (ISGCC) sat down with The Royal Gazette on the sidelines of the event to discuss their efforts to combat predators and save victims.

Michael Moran, assistant director of Interpol’s human trafficking and child exploitation sub-directorate; Robert Shilling, coordinator of crimes against children for Interpol’s trafficking in human beings sub-directorate; and Joanna Beaven-Desjardins, head of the sex crimes unit at Toronto Police Service, along with Bermuda Police Service Detective Inspector Mark Clarke, said the conference would cover a wide range of topics such as child sex trafficking, sexual psychopaths, cyber bullying and sextortion.

“We look at crimes against children online, travelling sex offenders, people who have a predilection for sex with children — those travelling to developing countries and jurisdictions to do what they can’t do at home,” Mr Moran said.

“We never say ‘sex tourism’ or ‘child pornography’, we call it sex travellers and child abuse material. Adult pornography is acceptable in society, it’s legal in a lot of countries, it’s created by consenting adults and is sexually exciting. None of those things should be correct for a child.

“There’s no consent involved with three or six-year-old children. If it’s sexually arousing to you, you need to deal with it, it’s not acceptable, it’s illegal.

“You can’t have child ‘porn’ without child abuse — each of those pictures is a crime scene.”

Det Insp Clarke highlighted that “no country is immune” to the scourge of child abuse material, including Bermuda.

“With technology we have a problem with child abuse images,” he said. “Bermuda is no different. Not one of those children is consenting, they aren’t old enough.”

Mr Moran said that if there were children being abused on the Island, “what are the chances they are not taking photographs?”

“You can’t separate them,” he added. “The vast majority of child abuse material has children under 10 involved in full penetrative sex acts.

“An increasing proportion of that is not produced in South East Asia or Eastern Europe. It’s being produced in Miami, Bermuda, Dublin, Edinburgh, Berlin ... that’s what we’re dealing with. It’s a monster problem.”

Insp Beaven-Desjardins emphasised that technology had “made the world smaller” and that the internet allowed predators easier access to images of children being abused.

“All deviant behaviours can find specific images and no one knows — they are able to hide,” she said.

The experts were keen to highlight the growing problem of self-generated child abuse material — and warned parents of the dangers of youngsters sending explicit photographs to each other.

This can lead to large and small-scale “sextortion”, when sexual information or images are used to blackmail sexual favours and/or money from a victim.

So a photograph your daughter sends to a boyfriend she believes she can trust could end up on Facebook or posted around school unless he gets what he wants.

“There is nothing to prevent children taking self-generated images of self and distributing it,” Det Insp Clarke warned.

“Teach children from a very young age about the dangers of the internet,” Mr Moran added. “You’re allowing your child access to the world — but the world also has access to your child.

“Parents see no problem with children having smartphones and androids. They can be sexting and make self-generated images.

“There isn’t a single phone on the market that doesn’t have parental controls — every parent needs to know about those and how to use them.”

“Parents giving children computers is inviting strangers into their house,” Insp Beaven-Desjardins added. “Parents aren’t policing children.

“They really need to educate themselves about technology and the dangers.” The experts were also keen to highlight that most child abusers know their victims — telling children to be wary of strangers is not enough, they warned.

“We do children a great disservice when we talk about ‘stranger danger’,” Mr Shilling said. “In the US, 93 percent of all sex offences against children are committed by someone known to the victim.

“You talk about stranger danger but what happens when it’s dad, granddad, a neighbour, a teacher? It’s one of the reasons reporting is so low.”

Det Insp Clarke said that while it may seem like there were increasing cases of child abuse in Bermuda, in reality the crime has always existed here but now more victims are coming forward and more abusers are coming before the courts.

“Our success comes from legislative amendments and dedicated people, placing victims before the courts,” he said. “For every conviction we get there’s one more victim who will come forward. There’s an explosion in a sense that people make the reports now, they are confident they’re going to be believed, although many victims remain in the shadows.

“Less than 10 percent of cases are reported worldwide.”

“Anyone can be a victim or an offender,” Mr Moran added. “Public awareness is key.”

The experts agreed that child sex offenders are “never cured” but “like an alcoholic, you can teach them intervention”, Mr Shilling said.

Bermuda Premier Michael Dunkley told the conference on Tuesday that more rehabilitation for the Island’s offenders was a priority and that two specialist psychologists had been recruited by the Department of Corrections.

“It’s an important step for Bermuda,” Mr Moran said. “It’s acknowledging that ill in society. Dealing with that means you can prevent them from reoffending.”

Mr Moran, Mr Shilling, Insp Beaven-Desjardins and Det Insp Clarke come face-to-face with the horrors of child abuse daily. They see the disturbing and chilling images, they trace and rescue victims, they deal with predators. How do they manage to keep going when confronted with such atrocities?

“Investigators are very dedicated,” Insp Beaven-Desjardins said. “They don’t want to go home, to stop, when they are getting closer to the predator.”

“I have a whole team of those people,” Mr Shilling added. “They work so many hours they are not being paid for.

“You see those images and think, ‘I have to do something to stop this’. You give it everything you have to save those children. When there’s a rescue that gives you the energy to go on.”