Paedophiles stole pictures of my son
Gemma hawkins, 31, just wanted to share photos of her kids with family and friends, but sick online predators had other ideas…
Scrolling down my news feed on Facebook, I shuddered when I saw the endless photos of kids in their school uniforms. ‘All ready for the new year,’ proud parents had typed, alongside pictures of their children, beaming for the camera in their perfectly ironed shirts and blazers. They hadn’t done anything wrong – it isn’t a crime to post photos of your children online – but I know better than most about the dangers lurking behind the computer screens.
My children, Teddy, eight, and Lily, seven, are no strangers to the camera. A few years ago I signed them up to a modelling agency and, with their glossy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, they caught the attention of casting directors and started getting booked for jobs almost straight away.
They were naturals at posing and they mostly modelled in catalogues for stores like Argos and Next and, although they had school during the week, they loved spending weekends dressing up in all the latest clothes.
All the money the children earned I put straight into a savings fund for them. ‘It’s for university, one day,’ my husband Dan and I would explain to our friends. I loved that the kids were learning a great work ethic, but more importantly, I loved the fact they had so much fun.
They were determined to keep modelling so, in 2017, I booked in to see a freelance photographer to get some new photographs of Teddy for his portfolio. We went along to a studio, where Teddy had a great time messing around with pots of paint and playing on a rope swing for some natural, fun shots. A few weeks later I put a selection of the kids’ photos on Instagram, including the ones that Teddy had taken for his portfolio. I was so proud, but more than anything it was so that our friends and family could see what the children were up to.
When it came to social media, I always thought I was careful – yes, I posted pictures but I kept my account settings private. Only, later that day, I got a follow request on Instagram from a child modelling promotion page. They must have found me through mutual friends.
‘Great,’ I thought. ‘Maybe more work for Teddy and Lily.’ I accepted the request and didn’t think anymore of it, but as the day went on my phone didn’t stop ringing with alerts of more follow requests – and I could see by their names that most of the notifications were from men. ‘That’s strange,’ Dan frowned, when I told him. ‘Just ignore them.’ By the time I went to bed that night, I must have clicked ‘ignore’ to around 100 requests from strangers. I couldn’t understand why suddenly so many people were keen to connect with me,
‘I’d left him vulnerable to this depravity’
and unable to sleep, I clicked on to one of the profiles out of curiosity. He looked just like any other middle-aged man and I didn’t notice anything unusual at first. But when I scrolled further down, I felt bile rise in my throat.
Sickening discovery
Right there, on Instagram, for the whole world to see, were horrific, sickening images of young children being sexually abused. The images were so graphic and clear for anyone to see, not hidden at all.
As I kept scrolling, each photo was worse than the next – the children looked so frightened in them. It was so upsetting, I’d never seen anything like it in my life.
‘Dan, look,’ I gasped as he lay next to me reading a book. When I passed him my phone and he saw the images, his face went pale. ‘We’ll report this,’ he said, pulling me into his arms as tears fell down my face. That night, consumed by the disturbing images we’d seen on my phone, we hardly slept and the next morning, we called our local police station. But they explained there was nothing they could do. Policing everything that goes online would be an impossible task and take too many resources, they explained. Instead, they suggested we lodge a complaint with Instagram and file an online report with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP). But while we waited for a response, I felt powerless. ‘Those poor children,’ I said to Dan, one night after the kids had gone to bed. ‘How can those images even exist, let alone be posted all over social media like that?’ My heart broke for those children, being used for the sexual gratification of sick paedophiles. And what about the children’s parents? Were they even aware? I decided to delete every connection I had on social media who I didn’t know personally. When I started going through Instagram, I spotted the child-modelling page I’d connected with a few days before. As I looked more intently, I realised it wasn’t a genuine modelling page at all – there were endless images of naked children with disgusting comments. It was another paedophile group. Then suddenly, my breath caught in my throat. ‘No!’ I gasped as I spotted something familiar – an image I’d seen many times before and one that usually brought a smile to my face. Only now, I felt sick with disgust. It was the photo of Teddy, covered in paint and on a rope swing, smiling at the camera. The photo had been taken on such a happy day – it couldn’t have been more innocent. Only, beneath the image of my seven-year-old child, were hundreds of vile comments. ‘Good looking boy,’ one man had written. ‘Handsome lad,’ another said.
But some were more explicit and graphic comments that are unprintable.
Rude awakening
Sitting there, in the living room, my body shook with sobs. And worst of all, I felt utter shame because it was my job as a mother to protect my kids. But by posting their pictures online, I’d left them vulnerable to this depravity.
‘It’s not your fault,’ Dan insisted when I showed him. But I couldn’t stop torturing myself for being so foolish and naive. Again, we reported the page to the CEOP, and it was eventually closed. There were no further investigations though, as far as I was aware. But I was totally traumatised by it, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about what those people had written about my little boy.
I deleted my Instagram account, and came off social media for several months, but I didn’t want to let the experience stop the kids from doing something they loved, so I let them carry on modelling.
The authorities believe there’s a staggering 80,000 paedophiles using social media in the UK alone. More needs to be done to stop them – now. And more people need to know about the dangers of posting any images at all of children online. I’ve told all the parents at school – because even a harmless snap of your son or daughter playing in the garden can be hijacked and as parents we are completely powerless to stop it. I think that’s the most frightening thing.
‘as parents we are completely powerless to stop it’