Simon Wade
FRESH LEADS are needed in historic child abuse cases that EUROPOL are investigating.
The EU Law Enforcement Agency have published images in a hope that members of the public will recognise something from them and lead to the capture and detention of the perpetrators.
All six pictures have been carefully cropped from video footage of child sexual abuse that investigators have yet to solve.
The partial images have been digitally enhanced and posted online at https://www.europol.europa.eu/stopchildabuse
Investigators are hoping that certain details in the images will serve as clues and that members of the public will recognise a detail which could lead to a child being rescued from harm.
Victim identification specialists painstakingly go through images and videos frame-by-frame to identify anything that helps with the origin, location or the identity of the victim.
Some things found are quite simple, like a street sign or a news programme on a TV in the background, but others are harder because offenders are becoming more aware of what law enforcement is looking for.
In some cases, investigators have exhausted all the leads, which is where help from the public is needed.
Europol takes tips and clues sent in via the Trace An Object platform and work to verify and develop investigations further.
So far, the Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object has helped remove 10 children from harm and arrest three offenders with over 26,000 tips received.
How to report
First, look at the images by visiting https://www.europol.europa.eu/stopchildabuse.
If you recognise an object or any details about its origin, be it from a shop, location or a time period, please report it via the platform.
This can be done securely and anonymously – no clue is too small.
What is Europol?
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known under the name Europol, formerly the European Police Office and Europol Drugs Unit, is the law enforcement agency of the EU formed in 1998.
It handles criminal intelligence and combats serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states.
The Agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to arrest suspects or act without prior approval from competent authorities in the member states.
Seated in The Hague, it comprised 1,065 staff in 2016.
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