Conference to tackle ‘sextortion’

HOW to weed out the “sextortion” of young people that has grown with the popularity of “sexting” will be a key discussion point at an international law enforcement conference on the Gold Coast this week.

Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group Detective Inspector Jon Rouse is the brainchild of the conference which sold out for the first time this year with 450 delegates.

The high-ranking officer said the opportunity to share information with police, prosecutors and government agencies from across the world helped to ensure local police were at the cutting edge of strategies to combat child abuse and sexual crime.

“I saw a gap in the market. There were conferences all over the world ... there was just nothing in this part of the world,” he said.

Detective Inspector Rouse said one of the most topical issues revolved around preventing children from sending sexually explicit photographs of themselves via text message.

The detective said prosecution was often not the aim. Rather, he said police often hoped to share intelligence to come up with better ways to communicate with children.

He said part of that message was conveying to children the “loss of control” they had over an image once it was sent to another person.

The Youth, Technology and Virtual Communities Conference is at Bond University until Friday.