Frequently Asked Questions

The NSW Police Child Exploitation Internet Unit

What role does the Child Exploitation Internet Unit (CEIU) play in the NSW Police?

The mission of the CEIU is the investigate child sexual abuse and exploitation of children that is facilitated through the use of   the Internet, related computer and telecommunication devices and to bring persons committing such crimes to justice.

The roles and responsibilities of the Child Exploitation Internet Unit include:

• To proactively identify offenders utilising the Internet to groom and procure children for sexual abuse and sexual exploitation and to bring such offenders to justice.
• To investigate persons utilising the Internet, related computer and telecommunication devices to groom and procure children for sexual abuse and exploitation and to bring such offenders to justice.
• To investigate the production, dissemination and possession of images of child sexual abuse (child pornography) that is facilitated by use of the Internet, related computer and telecommunications devices.
• Coordinate the NSW Police response to matters relating to child sexual exploitation referred from external law enforcement agencies.
• Provide assistance to other police in respect to specialist advice and technical support relating to the investigation of crimes facilitated through the use of the Internet, related computer systems and telecommunications devices.
• Provide limited assistance relating to forensic examination of computers and related systems used for the purposes of facilitating child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
• Establish, develop and maintain professional networks with other State, National and International Law Enforcement bodies and external agencies involved in the investigation of computer facilitated sexual crimes and sexual exploitation of children.
• To assist with community awareness and education with regard to the safe use of the Internet..

How can I contact the Child Exploitation Internet Unit?

The unit does not take calls directly from members of the public. If you wish to report matters relating to child sexual assault, child abuse, child sexual exploitation or child pornography that is being carried out by means of the Internet, related computer or telecommunications devices then you should contact either your local police station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

If you have information or a question for the Child Exploitation Internet Unit you can send an email to the unit : ceiu@police.nsw.gov.au

Legislation

What is the current NSW legislation concerning child pornography?

It is an offence to produce, disseminate or possess child pornography.

These offences are detailed in the NSW Crimes Act, Section 91H.

For the purpose of this Act a child is someone who is under 16 years of age.   

What about child pornography over the Internet?

It is an offence to access, transmit, publish, distribute, possess, supply or produce child pornography or child abuse material through a carriage service.   The Internet is a carriage service.

For the purpose of these offences a child is someone who is under the age of 18 years.

These offences are detailed in the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995.    

What is the current legislation concerning adults communicating with children about sex online?

It is an offence for an adult to communicate with a child under 16 years of age material that is indecent with the intention of making it easier to encourage, entice, recruit or induce a child to engage in or submit to sexual activity with that person or another person.

These offences are commonly referred to as ‘Grooming’ and ‘Procuring’ and are detailed in the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995.

Common Questions

What is ‘online procuring and grooming’?

Online Procuring is where an adult contacts a child online (usually via the Internet) and by the words and actions during this contact encourage, entice, recruit or induce the child to engage in sexual activity.   Online Grooming is conducted in a similar fashion and is often a preliminary step to procuring, where the adult through the words and actions attempt to lower the child’s inhibitions regarding sexual activity or heighten their curiosity by sending pornographic material or talking about sexual matters.

How does ‘online procuring and grooming’ work?

The online contact usually occurs in on line chat rooms. Adults with an established sexual interest in children will frequently go to chat rooms that are known to be popular with children. (e.g. Yahoo & MSN). They will generally attempt to keep up to date with all the latest fashions in clothes, music and sport so they can either pass themselves off as another child or as an adult who is in tune with children's interests. The adult might identify a younger, more naive or vulnerable child in a chat room, and he will make them the focus of his attention. He will try to be their 'special friend'.

The adult may lie about his age to establish a closer relationship with the child. At some later stage he may, or may not, reveal the truth about his age. Typically, if he does it is because he believes he has developed such a close bond with the child that the child will accept it and not see it as deceitful.

The initial contact may quickly move from an open, public or semi-public chat room, to a private chat room, then onto email, to SMS text messaging via mobile phones, instant messaging, and then to direct voice contact via a fixed or mobile phone, or even by voice over the internet. Eventually the adult may try to organise a face-to-face meeting with the child.

Online ‘groomers’ often use child pornography to ‘groom’ the child, it is shown to lower the child’s inhibitions concerning sexual activity and to generate conversation regarding such activity.  

My child may have met a paedophile in a chat room? What do I do? Where do I report this?

If possible, try to save a copy of the chat log between your child and the suspected paedophile. You can do this by highlighting the text with your mouse, creating a copy, and pasting it into a word document. This document can then be saved. You can also install software that will record your child's chat conversations for chat clients such as Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and
various others. Note any particulars such as website address, email addresses supplied, user nickname and any telephone numbers.

You can then go to your local police station to make a formal complaint against the suspected paedophile. If you have a copy of the chat log, give this to police. If you do not have a copy of the chat log, try to provide police with as much detail as possible from the conversation, e.g. where he/ she might live, the handle/ name he used in the chat room, what chat room you were in, and his/ her mobile phone number. You could also report the activity of the person to the chat room provider or moderator. This may prevent the person from returning to that particular chat room and looking for their next victim.

For further information on minimising the risk of your child coming into contact with a paedophile when they are online, refer to the brochure Who's chatting to your kids? which can be found under the 'Related Information' section of the Child Exploitation Internet Unit home page.

What is child pornography?

Child pornography means material that depicts or describes, in a manner that would in all the circumstances cause offence to reasonable persons, a person under (or apparently under) the age of 16 years:

(a)   engaged in sexual activity, or
(b)   in a sexual context, or
(c)   as the victim of torture, cruelty or physical abuse (whether or not in a sexual context).

The material referred to is not only limited to pictures or images but can also include written material or audio recordings.

Child pornography is also not limited to sexual activity, as it now includes depiction or description of a child in a sexual context or as the victim of torture, cruelty or physical abuse. A depiction or description of a child in a sexual context is a broad category that could cover, for example, situations where a child is depicted in an indecent or suggestive pose even while clothed.

I have accidentally viewed child pornography on a website, have I committed an offence?

No you have not committed a crime if you have accidentally viewed child pornography material that has come to your computer in an unsolicited or accidental manner, as long as soon as you become aware of it you took reasonable steps to get rid of it.   Do not download the child pornography images to your hard drive or save it in any way, or send it to another person.  

Someone has sent me a child pornographic image?   What do I do?

If you receive a child pornography image, report this as soon as possible to your local police station.   Please remember to supply details such as email addresses, websites, chat room details, user names that may be useful for police in identifying from where the images originated.

I know someone who may be downloading child pornography images?   Where do I report this?

If you suspect someone of downloading child pornography images onto their computer you can report this to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or you local police station.  

I have seen child pornography on my co-workers personal computer?   Is there a need to report this to the police, or is it sufficient for the organisation to deal with it through internal procedures?

If you believe a co-worker has child pornography on his/ her computer, you should report this to the Police.   You can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or your local police station.   

I have seen someone in internet café viewing / downloading child pornography. What do I do?

Notify the café owner/ manager to ensure that they secure any evidence from the computer hard drive. You should also call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or attend your local police station to make a report.

What do I do if I have received a SPAM email containing child pornography?

A SPAM email is an email that you may receive that is unsolicited and generally described as electronic junk mail.

If you receive SPAM that contains links or links you to websites that may contain offensive or illegal content (including child pornography) you should report it to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) at www.acma.gov.au

Your Internet service provider can also assist you in blocking or reducing SPAM emails.