Police-reported incidents of online sexual offences against children have risen significantly across Canada, including a nearly quadrupling of online child pornography cases from 2014 to 2022.
“These significant increases could reflect an actual rise in this type of crime, increased awareness and reporting among the general population or more resources and training for police to better detect online child sexual exploitation — or a combination of these factors,” a new Statistics Canada report states.
For every 100,000 children below age 18, police reported 125 cases of child pornography in 2022, as compared to 32 in 2014. Making or distributing child pornography offences accounted for most (72%) child pornography incidents.
During that eight-year window there were 45,816 incidents of online child pornography and 15,630 incidents of police-reported online sexual offences against children, such as child luring, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation and non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
Men and boys accounted for the “vast majority” of accused persons in incidents (ranging from 90 per cent to 97 per cent depending on the crime) while 86 per cent of victims were girls.
Overall, reported sexual offences stayed steady until 2019 when they jumped and jumped again in 2022.
"Internet-related sexual offences represent a growing proportion of total sexual offences, likely due to increasing time being spent online," the report states.
Outside of child pornography, it is child luring — the offence of communicating with a child online for the purpose of committing a sexual offence — that accounts for most police-reported online sexual offences against children and youth, Statistics Canada states.
Between 2014 and 2022, there were 11,971 police-reported incidents of online luring, representing an average annual rate of 19 incidents per 100,000 children and youth.
In one specific category, youth are victimizing youth.
Of the 1,700 total reported incidents, Canadian boys age 12 to 17 represent about three in four persons accused of perpetrating non-consensual distribution of intimate images. The crime, which became an offence in 2015, is perpetrated mostly by youth as just five per cent of accused are older than 17 years of age.
Solving these crimes is difficult for police due to encrypted communications and a lack of physical evidence or a trail of evidence, the report notes online.
“From 2014 to 2022, 41% of incidents of police-reported online sexual offences against children were cleared (that is, solved) by police. Incidents were more likely to be cleared if they involved multiple violations. Of cleared incidents, three-quarters (74%) resulted in a charge being laid or recommended against an accused.”
And just one in three child sexual exploitation charges against an adult results in a guilty finding, the report concludes. And, “in adult criminal courts, more than three-quarters (78%) of guilty cases involving child sexual offences likely committed online led to a custodial sentence.”
