Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

It comes two years after the federal Liberals promised a national strategy to fight sexual exploitation of children in cyberspace. Cybertip.ca has been running as a Manitoba-based pilot project for two years, but now will be promoted nationally. The site allows people to report suspicious Web sites, chat rooms and the like to a central clearinghouse. The reports are analyzed and those that look like solid leads are passed on to the appropriate police agency.

In its two years of operation, the site has received 2,000 reports which resulted in the closing of more than 400 Web sites and 10 arrests.

In one case, a mother in Kingston, Ont., found that her 14-year-old daughter had met a 35-year-old man on line. She found evidence that the man had sent child porn to the girl's computer.

She reported to Cybertip.ca and Kingston police were notified.

They determined that the man in question was in the United States and informed the FBI (news - web sites), which found he had molested other girls in the U.S. He faces four charges and 30 years in jail.

Manitoba Attorney General Gord Mackintosh, one of the driving forces behind the concept, said the Internet can be both a wonderful tool and a dangerous place.

"We all must reduce the risk," he said.

He warned that those who try to exploit kids on the Net are going to have a harder time of it now.

"I say to predators, beware, you are now going to be increasingly watched and reported," he said.

The site is financed by $3.5 million from the federal government and donations from corporations such as Bell Canada, Telus, Microsoft, Rogers, Shaw and AOL.

Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said the technology has shown it can work.

"This will have a significant impact," he said. "It's about protection of the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, our children."

The site is user friendly, with pull-down menus to help users fill out their reports. It's aimed as child porn, child luring, child prostitution and sex tourism.

Lianna McDonald, executive director of Child Find Manitoba, which ran the pilot project, said Cybertip can provide vital information to the police. By acting as a central clearinghouse for reports, it can sort out the chaff, and send information to the police who have jurisdiction.

Police faced with a report may investigate, only to find that the Web site or the person involved is in another jurisdiction. Cybertip can eliminate that duplication of effort, McDonald said.

"No one agency, government or company can take this issue on alone," she said.

McDonald said the process will enlist Canadians directly in the fight against sexual exploitation of children.

"Cybertips.ca is the Neighbourhood Watch of the Internet," she said.