In mid January 2014, reports began emerging of a cybersex ring that had recently been under investigation in the Philippines. Crime agencies across the UK, USA, Australia and the Philippines themselves have been working together since 2012 on a case codenamed Operation Endeavour, and recently results have started to be published in the media.
To date, the operation has seen twenty-nine arrests across twelve countries, with fifteen children identified as targets. The case is still ongoing, and more arrests are expected in the coming weeks. In the midst of a series of recent stories about child abuse both on the internet and offline, including the arrest of Lostprophets’ lead singer Ian Watkins, it may seem reasonable to conclude that the sharing of indecent content depicting children is at an all-time high. But is this true? Have the international legal authorities been seeing more crimes against children than ever before? And what challenges do they face when investigating such cases?
