Doctors, cops in social media groups sharing child images, porn videos

By Sharlene Rampersad- After infiltrating dozens of online groups where child pornography is allegedly being traded, a local non-governmental organisation is now sounding an alarm about the danger children and women face in T&T.

The foundation says they have been monitoring the activities of dozens of online groups where photos and videos of children and teens are posted and “traded” online daily.

One of the foundation’s members, who asked to remain anonymous, said there are allegedly police officers and doctors among the group members.

Describing the behaviour of the group members as “predatory,” she said the groups operate on WhatsApp, Telegram and MeWe. She revealed some disturbing details their investigation had unearthed.

“They have Google folders and One-drive folders specific to child pornography called Box Lunch, that’s the name of the folder,” she said.

She said dozens of victims have come to the foundation seeking assistance after they were allegedly targeted, harassed and blackmailed by group members.

This, and the foundation’s infiltration of dozens of the groups, has allowed them to identify many of the predators in those groups.

“With the help of the victims and by looking at the contact information that the members have displayed, we have been creating our own list of predators… there are doctors, a lot of engineers and police officers, so far, that is what I identified,” she claimed.

Many of the groups are also involved in sharing what is commonly referred to as “revenge porn.” This is where nude photos and videos that may have been sent by young women to their partners while in relationships, are shared to others after relationships end.

The woman said numerous reports have been made to police about this practice but so far, no one has been prosecuted.

Another disturbing trend from the groups is the “hunt” for nude photos.

The woman showed multiple messages from several of the groups, where screen shots of the social media profiles of teens and young women were being shared. The photos showed the teens and young women posting photos of their everyday lives but the woman said they must have caught the eyes of the predators, as the messages accompanying those screen shots are often, “Who have she?”

She said this practice, which easily identifies potential victims, was occurring with increasing frequency.

“Whoever shared that person (photo) requests the URL for their Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram profile. They would then go on to befriend the person, reach out to them, talk to them, whether it’s blackmail, a lot of victims say they have been blackmailed off the bat by fake accounts that these users would create and then reach out to the girls, they would harass them, ask them for more nude photos and even prey on them if they are sexual predators,” she said.

Some of the other messages sent to the groups included, “Anyone have schoolgirls?” and “Who have child porn?”

Links to join a group called “Students Chat Room,” which was described as “Leaked Students Videos” and “Quarantine Students Porn Videos Only,” were widely circulated among the groups. A link for a group named “Child Porn video” was also shared among several of the groups.

“They are even inciting hacking, they incite people to go and prey on them to get nude photos from them, so it’s like a sexual grooming, predatory environment, where young girls and children are shared consistently, 24/7 they will be sharing these things,” she said.

The woman said members of the NGO have “confronted” some of the predators virtually, by asking whether they were not aware that the distribution of child pornography is illegal in T&T.

“I think the users find comfort in the fact that there is a lack of law empowering police to investigate and they take a lot of satisfaction in knowing that nothing could really be done to them, they have admitted that in the group, they have spoken about it, saying “Them in Riverside Plaza can’t do nothing about this.”

The woman shared emails with Guardian Media that were sent to senior members of the TTPS in May 2022, where details of the activity, including links to online platforms where photos and videos of minors were being stored and shared, calling for action but said she was unaware whether any official probe had been started.

The NGO is now calling on the T&T Police Service to take these types of reports seriously.

The woman said unfortunately, there is still a significant amount of victim-blaming done by those in authority.

“This is literally a sex trade, we want the police to invest themselves in advocating from their side for more technology to better detect and fight this illegal trade.”

Guardian Media reached out to the TTPS’ Child Protection for comment yesterday but up until press time none was forthcoming.

Questions were also sent to TTPS’ Corporate Communications Manager Joanne Archie, who said she would respond on Friday. (Trinidad & Tobago Guardian)