Online pedophiles found blackmailing kids

SYDNEY, June 29 (UPI) -- Pedophiles are frequently using the Internet to blackmail victims into face-to-face meetings, the British head of a global child abuse task force says.

Jim Gamble of the Virtual Global Taskforce said offenders often pose as teenagers in chat rooms, convincing them to send lewd pictures of themselves, or to engage in sexually charged conversations.

Once a picture or a record of a conversation is obtained, victims can be easily blackmailed with threats to post sensitive material to a victim's school or tell their parents, he said.

"So suddenly you're into a blackmail scenario whereby the child is forced to comply, or (they) believe they're forced to comply," Gamble said. "So it's very, very difficult. Once you create those pictures, once you engage in that recorded conversation, the pedophile will become much more hostile."

Gamble said there are no stereotypical pedophiles or victims, and the notion most victims are in poor regions, such as Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe, was wrong, The Australian reported Tuesday. Based on the 860,000 images of sex abuse the task force has collected, most victims appear to be white, Westernized children, he said.

Gamble said authorities are finding child pornography is skyrocketing as sexual predators use digital media devices to entrap their victims

Gamble, who also is chief executive of the United Kingdom's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, said the Australian Federal Police has been at "the cutting edge" of international efforts to crack down on online child abuse and has done an "outstanding" job.