Parents, please read this: Peel police ICE unit facing an alarming surge of child exploitation online
Photo illustration by Joel Wittnebel
Lost among the headline grabbing gunfire and gang activity is the disturbing work of officers in Peel’s ICE unit, many of whom mostly operate in the digital realm, their time spent on keyboards staring into a screen rather than in a squad car or at a crime scene.
However, this group of seven investigators — eight including Gordon, the lead detective — is also dealing with an increasingly troubling reality, one usually ignored by the daily crime headlines and news coverage.
Over the last five years, Mississauga and Brampton have registered a 332 percent increase in sex crimes against children, rising from 38 crimes in 2014 to 164 in 2018, nearly three times the increase observed across Ontario, where such violations have increased 128 percent in five years, from 952 in 2014 to 2,176 last year.
On a daily basis, the Internet Child Exploitation unit inside Peel Regional Police is viewing new online images or video of children being sexually exploited. They’re not alone.
The volume of this content is becoming a global pandemic with police organizations and policy makers struggling to keep up and hold perpetrators accountable. Peel has seen a 332 percent increase in sexual crimes against children over the last five years.
Published November 22, 2019 in The Pointer Brampton and The Pointer Mississauga
