From the Publisher
From a renowned investigative reporter, the true story behind a
horrifying Internet abuse epidemic - and the heroes who are out to
stop it.
The Internet has helped make child abuse terrifyingly common - it
is the new face of crime in the 21st century. There are tens,
probably hundreds of thousands of children whose sexual abuse has
been electronically recorded and distributed on the Internet. As
Julian Sher reveals, the men perpetrating these crimes include
lawyers, priests, doctors and politicians. They pick their victims
from the streets of Bangkok to Boy Scout troops in England, while
the police - from a crack image analyst with the Toronto police to
an FBI agent who poses as a thirteen-year-old girl online - work
desperately to nab the predators.
One Child at a Time goes behind the headlines to
show how law officers are fighting back against this tide of abuse,
from daring rescues in homes to the seizures of millions of dollars
in the offshore bank accounts of the porn merchants. In riveting
detail, Julian Sher shows how clue by clue, and image by image,
investigators are using cutting edge tools, turning the technology
of the Internet against the perpetrators as they race to find and
rescue the victims - children who otherwise have no voice.
This important book explores the ramifications of a worldwide
struggle, from the need for updated legal powers to the unexpected
effects the Internet has had on our social fabric. It also includes
a full list of resources for concerned parents. Though sometimes
harrowing, One Child at a Time is also inspiring -
and never less than absolutely relevant.
In their efforts to rescue the child victims of one of today's
most pervasive and insidious crimes, police must be creative,
dogged and go well beyond the borders drawn on any map. . .
Canadian cop Paul Gillespie changed the way that police around the
world tackle Internet porn. He decided that if the system was
broken, he was going to send an email to Bill Gates and ask for
help. Gates not only answered, but Microsoft ended up kicking in
millions of dollars, working with Gillespie's team to develop the
Child Exploitation Tracking System, a searchable database to track
and investigate Web predators and their victims. It soon spread
across Canada, and then to the UK, Australia and the U.S.
Older men pretend to be young and caring, luring lonely young
girls in chat rooms. But when they show up to meet their victim,
they discover the FBI is waiting to arrest them. Emily Vacher, one
of the FBI's top Internet undercover operatives, specializes in
trapping the predators at their own game of deception.
The photos of the child's abuse were everywhere on the Net, but no
one knew who or where she was. In a frantic 36-hour hunt, using
CSI-type sleuthing to find clues in the pictures, Canadian,
American and European police rescued a girl from North
Carolina.
Jim Gamble, one of the most senior police officers in the UK, has
spearheaded the creation of a Virtual Global Taskforce to patrol
the web 24/7. It was time for a sheriff to tame the wild, wild Web,
Gamble decided. Now children have a red "report abuse" button on
chat room software and browsers they can click any time they feel
threatened.
It is time for the children's stories-too often hidden in the dark
corners of the Web-to be told. Their torment has been etched in
their memories-and the memories of the police officers dedicated to
rescuing them. It is what scars them. But it is also what spurs
them on.
Because they know behind every picture or video lies a little,
frightened child. Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie of the Toronto
Police's Exploited Child Unit can't shake the lingering echoes of
some of the worst videos he has seen of shackled children:
"Sometimes," he says, "you can hear the children cry."
-from One Child at a Time
About the Author
Julian Sher is the author of several bestselling books, including
"Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride into
History. He has worked on investigative projects for the
CBC, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the
New York Times. His website, JournalismNet, is ranked by
Google among the world's top ten journalism portals.