Police online pedophile response team catches over 50 offenders in 9 months
Over 50 online pedophiles were apprehended in Estonia in the first nine months of this year, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
Experts say this represents a "significant" rise, and follows a more targeted Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) effort to catch offenders. The figure of 50 was the forecast total for the whole year, when the PPA special unit was set up.
Victims were reportedly as young as eight.
Elari Haugas, head of the serious crimes division at the PPA's North Prefecture, said the figure will be higher by year end.
"More of these criminals will definitely be caught this year, while the most recent one was apprehended on Thursday morning. Since this is an ongoing investigation, I can't go into details, but the suspect is currently being detained, procedural actions have been carried out, and the queue will soon reach the next individuals," Haugas said.
The problem is also a severe and rising one from the perspective of child psychologists.
"Sexually abused children, and the issue of sexual abuse in general, have grown to epidemic proportions in recent years. Not a single week passes without some new signal about a child or young person who has potentially experienced sexual abuse," child psychologist Mariana Saksniit said.
After identifying an offender and assessing risks, the PPA sometimes deploy a rapid response team to detain the individual. This can even include cases of physical breaking and entering.
"If videos show that entry has been made via balconies, those are cases where the door was not opened voluntarily. In cases of forced entry, if we know the person is in the apartment and refuses to open the door, then we really do everything necessary to take that individual into custody," said Haugas.
According to Saksniit, one preventive measure could be to introduce sex education in early childhood education.
"If we can talk more about sexual development in kindergartens, adults around our children will become more open and will stop stigmatizing certain topics. This is definitely one preventive measure we as a society can take," Saksniit said.
The PPA says it plans to allocate even more resources to the crime unit to help and reach abused minors more quickly.
The penalty under current law for sexually soliciting a minor can be up to three years in prison.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
