Child pornography distribution on the rise in southern Manitoba

There has been a sharp increase in the number of reported violations involving child sexual abuse imagery handled by the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) over the last decade, and it’s a growing and concerning trend for both experts and reported survivors of the crime.

“I’m concerned,” said the mother of a child who was allegedly abused and recorded at a daycare. “I’m concerned as a parent. That shows our kids are not safe.”

CityNews is not naming the mother to protect the identity of their child. But they say the trend is disturbing and agencies protecting kids in the province need to do a better job working together.

“From my position, I don’t know what’s wrong, but what I would say, when I see how our own case has been handled and how long it’s been taking, how difficult it is to get information and to know what’s happening, for sure something needs to change.”

Information from Statistics Canada indicates in 2020, Winnipeg police recorded 251 violations where people were making or distributing child sexual abuse imagery. That’s an increase of 60 per cent over 2019 when 157 violations were reported and an increase of more than 400 per cent when compared to 2018 when only 48 instances were reported.

Violations for possessing and accessing child sexual abuse imagery are also climbing. Winnipeg has seen an increase of more than 38 per cent year after year, with 181 instances recorded in 2020, compared to 131 in 2019 and 63 the previous year.

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“I think we’re seeing it everywhere so Winnipeg would not be the exception,” said Signy Arnason, the associate executive director at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

According to the Centre for Child Protection, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually exacerbated child pornography crimes.

“We’ve seen a mass hit to children during the pandemic so while the problem was of significant proportion prior to the pandemic, the increased time at home, it could be the offender within the home with access to children, or kids increased engagement online has resulted in a mass increase in reports into the national tip line,” said Arnason.

Arnason says more needs to be done to keep kids safe online, saying right now, the Internet is a dangerous, unregulated environment in which technology has put children into contact with adults in a way that would never be appropriate in daily life.

“It’s almost like the tsunami has hit surrounding the implications from the decisions to not regulate the online world,” Arnason added.

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She stressed the international problem needs a global response from provincial and federal levels of government, saying the situation is growing at a rapid pace.

“It’s of epic proportions, we cannot keep up,” said Arnason. “So we should all be concerned that this level of harm is occurring to kids. We don’t permit it offline and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t make some really critical decisions to reel in what’s happening on the internet.”

CityNews reached out to the WPS for comment on the increase, but a response was not immediately received. In recent weeks they have reminded the public that offenders who target children can be anywhere.

“These are crimes of access and opportunity,” said Const. Dani McKinnon of the Winnipeg Police Service last month. “The offenders in this type of situation, they don’t hide behind the proverbial bushes, they are amongst us. They are in the places, unfortunately, where some of our children may attend to.

“It’s a good time to educate your children and educate yourself.”