International efforts to hunt online sex predators explored in TV programme
21 February 2025, 00:04
Hunting The Online Sex Predators, to be screened by the BBC next week, takes an in-depth look at cybersex crime.
International efforts to catch online sexual predators are set to be explored in a new TV programme.
During the course of Hunting The Online Sex Predators, James Blake, a digital influencer from Northern Ireland, meets victims and speaks to officials from across the globe, including the US, the UK and the Philippines.
The programme focuses on cybersex crime, which can range from online grooming to using sexual pictures and video to blackmail a victim, and the livestreaming of the sexual abuse of children.
Blake previously presented the documentary Hunting The Catfish Crime Gang, in which he told how his identity had been stolen on social media and then used in scams.
In this new follow-up film, he meets victims of cybersex crime, including a female who was just 12 when she was trafficked to the Philippines and abused.
It also screens a claim based on University of Edinburgh research which suggests that 1.4% of the male population in Britain has engaged in a sexually explicit webcam interaction with a child – equivalent to more than 450,000 men.
Cassie, which is not her real name, said she was trafficked to Manila by someone her parents thought they could trust and was abused over three years until the perpetrator was caught and sentenced to life in prison.
“Every day after school. If I don’t do that, he is going to hurt me physically. I thought naked in front of these old men is just normal,” she said.
Now at the age of 26, she campaigns to help children, and said she feels safe now that her perpetrator has been brought to justice.
“I don’t call myself survivor anymore. I call myself victorious,” she added.
Blake also hears about how an online investigation comes together.
At the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington DC, he meets UK National Crime Agency officer Andy, and learns that they get around 100,000 reports of harmful content on social media reported to them every day.
In the Philippines, he meets another NCA officer who works in a global task force made up of police from countries including the Philippines, Australia, the US and the UK.
He learns there that, according to Filipino government data tracking online transactions, men from the UK are some of the biggest consumers of online content exploiting children.
Blake described a “truly eye-opening experience”.
“As someone who has grown up online and works in social media, I would say I am savvy about the digital world, but I had no idea how organised and cruel cybersex crime is, or about the incredible work that is being done worldwide to combat it,” he said.
“We hope this film raises awareness of the dangers that exist online and starts a conversation across the UK about internet safety.”
Hunting The Online Sex Predators will be available on Tuesday February 25 on BBC iPlayer from 6am, and will be shown on BBC One and BBC One NI from 10.40pm.
