Disturbing new internet child abuse sees toddlers raped and burned live on webcam as paedophiles use Bitcoin to stop being traced, warns police chief
Kieran Corcoran
One of Europe's top police officers has warned of a sickening online trade in child torture porn.
Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, said offenders are using the untraceable online currency Bitcoin to pay for depraved 'shows', performed live on webcams, which see young children raped and burned.
He said: 'The level of depravity seems to be descending year on year, frankly, including what seems to be in vogue now, which is live webcam 'shows' of toddlers not just being raped but being burnt with cigarettes.
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Sickening: Mark Wainwright warned that online predators were paying to watch children be raped and burned live on webcam (file photo, posed by model)
'Sorry, but it's happening online and it's extremely difficult for us to identify.'
Mr Wainwright warned that Bitcoin - a 'crypto-currency' based on mathematical formulae and independent of any government or central bank - is propping up a criminal black market.
He also warned that police and politicians were struggling to keep up with the pace of online crime, thanks to widespread anonymity online, and easy access to encryption technology which can make criminals almost impossible to track down.
Mr Wainwright warned that the principle that everyone's online activity should be anonymous by default needs to be challenged in order to police the internet effectively.
He criticised the sluggish response from the police, politicians and big businesses, saying that equivalent levels of crime in the physical world would be 'front page news.'
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Black market: The Bitcoin cryptocurrency is being used for illegal activities, Mr Wainwright warned
He told The Times: 'It is frustrating that we are not getting the message out, at least not loud enough for legislators to hear it.'
The Internet Watch Foundation pressure group has recently claimed to have found evidence of an email scam directing people to underground websites where the sick 'shows' could be seen in exchange for Bitcoin.