22 Per Cent of Sexual Offence Cases Begin Online – Police

The Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) is making an urgent call to parents and guardians to actively monitor their children’s use of digital platforms.

This appeal comes as the police are reporting that up to 22 per cent of sexual offence cases begin with an online introduction.

Speaking on the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Force4Good Podcast recently, Head of CISOCA Superintendent Kerry-Ann Bailey, highlighted that social media platform such as TikTok, Instagram, and even online games like Roblox are increasingly being exploited by perpetrators to groom and exploit minors.

“Children and teens are flocking to digital spaces, sometimes unsupervised, where adults with malicious intent are lurking. These perpetrators take advantage of children’s openness and build trust, often leading to exploitation,” she pointed out.

As such, she is imploring parents to ensure that children are supervised when using smart devices to go on social media platforms.

“Supervision is key, but we find that where supervision is concerned, for most of the parents, the parental controls are used for toddlers and not necessarily for teenagers, and this is where the bulk of the reports are coming from,” Superintendent Bailey said.

“For the children, we may look at things like TikTok or Instagram where there is mostly adult content, and you may remove that from their devices. However, you have things like Roblox…which is being used by a lot of children where they interact on games and you don’t know who is talking to them,” she pointed out.

The Superintendent said the police have received reports of children being asked inappropriate questions on these games, and in some cases, the child may be sharing personal information about their family as they believe that they are only playing a game.

She advised that parents should also pay attention to the behaviour of their children, as when many of them begin to have adult conversations online, they tend to become secretive.

“Keep open access to your child’s device to regularly review browser history, messages, and social media interactions. This ensures that parents can quickly detect and address any concerning behaviour,” Superintendent Bailey said.

The JCF remains committed to protecting Jamaica’s children and encourages the public to report any suspicious online behaviour or concerns to CISOCA or the nearest police station.