Child Rescue Coalition Uses Real-Time Data to Turn Child Predators into Their Own Whistle Blowers

There are more than 500,000+ child predators online every day.

And an explosion of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) worldwide, largely due to the amplification of the internet and digital technologies. Child predators have infinite access to CSAM due to the easy, anonymous, and on-demand availability of these illicit graphic images and videos of child victims - and, alarmingly, 85% of online predators are hands-on abusers.

In an effort to fight against child sexual abuse and CSAM, the non-profit Child Rescue Coalition (CRC) built proprietary technology that can detect CSAM in real time. When law enforcement uses CRC child predator identification technology, which is free of charge, they can use their IP address to identify, locate, and arrest child predators. And since its inception, CRC has identified 72.5 million unique IP addresses that share and download sexually explicit images and videos of children 12 years and under. 

By providing this data to law enforcement, CRC has aided in the arrest of more than 14,000 predators and the rescue of more than 3,000 abused children globally to date. Despite the technology's success, the rapid expansion of the Internet has created an explosion in CSAM which is exponentially growing. And too often, law enforcement departments lack the resources necessary to take action on the data.

As part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, David & Goliath Brooklyn (D&G BKNY) partnered with CRC to stop predators in their tracks by launching “Confessions of a Predator,” a pro bono campaign which launched today, Tuesday, April 11th that effectively turns predators into their own whistle blowers for lawmakers to take urgent action.

Using CRC’s child predator identification technology, the moment a predator shares or downloads CSAM, an email will immediately be generated from the predators (unbeknownst to them) to lawmakers with a provoking confession of their crimes as they’re being committed, all based on real behaviour detected in real time. 

“These child predators then essentially turn themselves in by calling upon lawmakers to urge their local law enforcement to adopt and use CRC’s free technology, to arrest predators, prevent future harm and fight the crisis of CSAM and abuse,” said Blake Winfree, chief of culture and social impact, D&G BKNY. 

The campaign, which runs from April 11th - 14th, will initially target lawmakers in the 10 states that reflect the highest volume of CSAM - California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia, and Ohio. Thousands of emails will be sent in each state during the campaign exposing lawmakers to the scale and severity of the problem in their own backyard.

The data-driven campaign includes a launch video and a series of social media posts that give the look and feel of the dark web, with retro computer fonts, unnerving, glitching animations in bold red and black and a chilling original music track that sheds a piercing light on the gravity of the issue and campaign. Viewers are encouraged to help save children by tagging their local authorities to adopt CRC’s technology in their local communities using the hashtags #AdoptCRCTech and #JoinTheFight.

“In today’s world, children talk to thousands of strangers online every day. The fact that they’re at home, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe anymore,” said Luiz Vicente Simoes, group creative director/copywriter, D&G. “Technology needs to evolve with the times to protect those who are the most vulnerable, and that’s the beauty of CRC’s technology and the root idea of this campaign.” 

“The ‘simple’ hack of turning child predators’ online behaviour into real-time emails from them that list their actual crimes and file names they are sharing or downloading in that moment is what’s so gripping about this campaign,” said Brett Terblanche, group creative director/art director, D&G. “I imagine it would be hard for any person of authority to consider the problem isn’t a global pandemic that needs addressing when you receive personalized confessions by child predators.”