Online child exploitation is a borderless crime that’s reached horrific proportions. In Aotearoa New Zealand, our investigation teams are pivotal players in an international taskforce at the frontline of uncovering online child abuse offenders and rescuing their victims. They are literally unmasking monsters.

Not everyone can do this work. They are very carefully selected and taking care of each other is integral to the NZ Custom’s team kaupapa.
What most of us don’t know, is the sheer scale of offending and how different it is from every other crime. In almost every other case, authorities know the location, victim and there’s evidence left at the scene. When it comes to online child abuse, it’s a hundred times harder. All they have is a photo of a child. They don’t know who they are, where they are, or who’s doing the abuse. With each image, there’s a life at stake and investigation teams are in a race against time to find them.
The priority is not catching the criminals, it’s rescuing the children.