Internet Watch Foundation

On February 26, 2006, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) provided intelligence to Cybertipline, its sister Hotline in the US, regarding a website which appeared to be hosted in the US and contained images of children being sexually abused.

 

Following further analysis by specialists from Cybertipline, part of the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, the website was confirmed to be registered in Wisconsin State and the report, along with three subsequent reports on the same domain, was passed to the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice apprehended a suspect who was videotaping himself sexually abusing three prepubescent children. The IWF’s technological sophistication and tracing techniques, together with the investigative work of Cybertipline and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and the United States Attorney for Wisconsin’s successful prosecution of this case led to the rescue of three prepubescent children who were being subjected to sexual abuse as well as the conviction of their abuser. This case is testament to effective international liaison.

 

The arrest of the 51-year-old male from Monroe, Wisconsin, and the subsequent search of his residence, led to the discovery of large volumes of sexually abusive images of children.  A laptop computer was seized and was found to contain over 16,000 images and over 1,000 video files depicting children – many of whom were between the ages of two and ten years old -  being sexually assaulted. Investigators soon discovered that the suspect possessed home video equipment which he was using to record himself sexual assaulting three young children.

 

The suspect admitted to sexually assaulting the children, ages three, four, and five, and a fourth victim about 20 years earlier. On June 20, 2007, he pleaded guilty to manufacturing child sexual abuse images in Federal court.  He was sentenced on August 29, 2007 to 60 years in Federal prison, without the possibility of parole. 

 

This was the highest possible sentence that could be imposed under Federal law. The suspect is currently facing additional charges for possession of child sexual abuse images in Winnebago County and for the sexual assault of a child in Green County.

 

The IWF processed around 32,000 reports last year and is committed to sharing intelligence with Hotlines and law enforcement agencies around the world. The IWF is a founding member of INHOPE, the association of international Hotlines committed to preventing the proliferation of child sexual abuse images on the internet.

 

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The IWF is the only recognised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their exposure to potentially illegal content online.

 

Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

 

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.

 

We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry. This includes internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as blue-chip and other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.

  

Through the 'Hotline' reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.

 

As a result, less than 1% of potentially illegal content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.

 

Please note that the terms "child pornography" or "child porn" can act to legitimise images which are not pornography. Rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child sexual abuse images.

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700

 

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Childrenâ (NCMEC) launched the CyberTipline in March 1998 as a means of reporting incidents of child sexual exploitation including the possession, manufacture, and/or distribution of child sexual abuse images; online enticement; child prostitution; child sex tourism; extra familial child sexual molestation; and unsolicited obscene material sent to a child.

 

The CyberTipline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their goal is to empower the public to take immediate and direct action to enforce a zero tolerance policy regarding child sexual exploitation. To assist all levels of law enforcement by providing one streamlined reporting tool that enhances information sharing and collaborative efforts to combat these crimes.

 

INHOPE is the International Association of Internet Hotlines. Founded in 1999 as part of the European Commission Safer Internet Action Programme, INHOPE is substantially funded by the EC.

The mission of INHOPE is to coordinate and facilitate the work of internet hotlines in responding to illegal and harmful use of the Internet.

Internet hotlines play a critical part in online safety by offering a way for internet users to report illegal content. INHOPE believes that a safer environment on the internet can only be created once all relevant stakeholders co-operate and exchange expertise.

For more information on INHOPE and a full list of member hotlines visit www.inhope.org