Police uncover paedophile syndicate trapping victims via social media
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate of Women and Children Protection and Anti-Human Trafficking (PPA-PPO) has uncovered a paedophile syndicate that seeks out victims through social media.
In several cases of sexual violence against women and children that have been solved, the victims and perpetrators interacted through the instant messaging application Telegram.
“Yes, there is a syndicate, possibly organised. But most cases are person to person. They get acquainted on social media, then via direct message the victims are offered money for snacks and other things, and are eventually instructed to take photos of themselves and send them to the perpetrators,” said Head of the Operational Development Sub-Division of the PPA-PPO Directorate at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department, Police Commissioner Ema Rahmawati, during a podcast with ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday.
According to Ema, the paedophiles sell child pornographic content to the dark market of paedophile communities worldwide.
The mid-ranking officer explained that the National Police have previously handled cases of online child sexual exploitation. One began when an Australian national was denied entry to the United States because his mobile phone contained numerous videos of child sexual exploitation.
The Australian national was returned to his home country. Local police then investigated the discovery and opened the perpetrator’s phone, revealing many videos of child sexual exploitation, one of which originated from Indonesia.
“At that time, the Australian police coordinated with Indonesian police, informing them that there were indications of a child having become a victim of online sexual exploitation, located in South Sulawesi,” she revealed.
Through this coordination, the child victim was located and Australian police gathered testimony from the victim.
The investigation revealed that the child had become acquainted with the perpetrator through Telegram.
“It started with Telegram, then the victim was introduced to a community and they exchanged direct messages, communicating until being lured with rewards,” she said.
The victim was in the second year of senior high school and was paid 19 US dollars, transferred through an electronic wallet account belonging to her mother.
“It turned out that after investigation, the child had communicated with the perpetrator through Telegram,” she said.
“Telegram is currently the safest social media platform for perpetrators of crime because Telegram stores its data strictly,” she continued.
For organised paedophile perpetrators, the National Police are working with the PPATK (Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre) to trace their financial transactions. If someone has no business relationship but regularly receives large transfers, they are suspected of involvement in the syndicate.
Ema therefore reminded parents to supervise their children when using devices to interact on social media.
“The negative threats of gadgets today are extraordinary. Cases of sexual violence or child sexual exploitation are being detected in very large numbers. We see several reports from Interpol, and from institutions like NCMEC — reports to us number nearly a million regarding online child sexual exploitation,” she said.