The Dutch child pornography detective team will double in size this year to 150. Although they have no illusions about completely stopping abuse, new software will make the task of tracking down child pornographers quicker and more efficient and also less psychologically stressful for the detectives themselves.

Peter Reijnders, leader of the national team, started the alarm bells ringing about a year ago:

“The problem is that the amount of child pornography available is increasing by leaps and bounds. That’s due to the increased availability of internet. People who used to get access to this material through clandestine channels can now use the internet.”

“I’m convinced we can give our approach a substantial boost and arrest a lot more suspects. And in terms of prevention, we can work together with after-care organisations, public health and other partners. Repression alone won’t do it.”

The team focuses both on networks and on individual downloaders, since every downloader may represent a network, possibly with connections in other countries. Reijnders says it’s a misconception that those involved in child pornography come from a deprived social background. “What we’re seeing is a cross-section of society.”

Hours of footage
The team’s work demands a great deal of technical knowledge, since distributors and downloaders use cutting edge techniques to keep their practices hidden. However, detection techniques are keeping pace with the complexity and scope of the problem. Speaking on Dutch radio, criminal investigation expert Maaike de Souza, who is a member of the team, explained that it is no longer necessary to look through all the footage for each suspect.

“Back when the technology was less advanced, it involved sticking tapes in the video machine, playing them through and watching. That took an enormous amount of time. These days we use software that preselects material and does all kinds of other things for us. We can select and work quickly on that equipment. For instance, it can extract all the images from a data source and it also recognizes all previously registered child pornography.” 

This means that only unknown material actually has to be watched.

Emotional distress
That’s helpful in another way, Peter Reijnders points out, in that detectives no longer have to look at horrifying images for hours on end:

“Psychologists occasionally offer our detectives support with the kind of work they do. This equipment and software makes it all less emotionally stressful, and that can only be a good thing.”

Public concern about child pornography and abuse increased dramatically in December 2010 with the scandal surrounding a daycare centre in Amsterdam. Latvian-born Robert Mickelsons is now on trial for abusing at least 80 children left in his care. Pictures of the children turned up in the United States.

(imm)