By Steffanie Costigan – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lethbridge Herald March 8, 2024.
Herald Photo: Steffanie Costigan Const. Heather Bangle speaks at SACPA on the topics of child Internet exploitation, criminal investigations, computer-related child sexual abuse, grooming and child pornography.A member of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team spoke at a Southern Alberta Public Affairs Committee meeting in Lethbridge on Thursday about its purpose and child internet exploitation, criminal investigations, and computer-related child sexual abuse. Seniors organizations spoke on topics including seduction, seduction and child pornography.
The guest speaker was RCMP member Heather Bangle of the Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE), an investigator with many years of experience investigating child exploitation.
“I just want to talk about some of the current trends and violations that we investigate and some things to be aware of,” Bangle said.
Bangle talked about the work she does and the education ICE shares to prevent child sexual exploitation.
“What we do is investigate the sexual exploitation of children via the internet. We are also now working to reduce harm through public education and prevention programmes.”
Bangle noted there are six RCMP Enterprise Alarm Forensics technicians, as well as a newly formed mobile forensics unit – the first in Canada to help preview the equipment.
“We have a great team of very smart investigators and forensic technicians and people who are dedicated to putting bad guys behind bars,” she said.
Banger said there are about five to six dedicated prosecutors. The impact, she said, is having dedicated prosecutors.
“It means a lot to have this because it’s so technical. It’s so specific and there are things people don’t understand. So not having to re-educate Crown prosecutors every time, it means a lot.”
She pointed to Cyber Tip, the Canadian Center for Child Protection, as a great resource. Bangle said they not only work with local victims and offenders, but also work around the world.
“We are in contact with all law enforcement because this is obviously a crime that knows no borders. So (if) we may have an offender in Lethbridge and a victim in Lethbridge.
“But we may also have offenders in Lethbridge, we may have victims in the UK, we may have victims and offenders in Australia. We work with law enforcement around the world,” she said.
She warned that some would lure teenagers to send explicit nude photos and then blackmail them into sending money or sharing the photos with friends and family, which was high among male teenagers. The bracelet also shared a definition of child pornography.
“When I read the warrant, I still had to call it child pornography because that’s the definition in the Canadian Criminal Code. But a lot of times when people think of child pornography, they think of it like a child in a bathtub, Or you know, kids dressing up sexy.
“But at the end of the day, it’s really an image, a photo, a record of a child’s sexual path. It’s a crime scene, and every time these images and videos are shared, that child becomes a victim over and over again, ” Banger said.
She said Canada has good laws and written material can be criminalized, such as stories and illustrations about child abuse.
Bracelet describes what Internet solicitation is and how it constitutes a crime.
“Internet solicitation is another big issue we’re dealing with. It’s a very confusing crime because it has so many components, but the simplest way to describe it is that solicitation is just someone using telecommunications to facilitate a crime, a secondary offence. It doesn’t necessarily happen.”
She recalled that in 2014, there were about 300 to 400 files per year, and how those numbers had increased significantly.
“Last year, I think we ended up with just over 1,600 files. And that was just in the South. That equated to eight to 12 investigators a day. So, unfortunately, a lot of those files didn’t get acted on because there wasn’t the resources or the time. Come take action,” Bangle said.
twenty two
13