French citizen and Disney animator found guilty of livestreamed sexual assault of children
Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC)
1 November 2024
IJM urges tech and financial sector accountability as French citizen found guilty in livestreamed sexual assault of Filipino children case
Yesterday, the Paris Assizes Court found a 59-year-old French Citizen guilty of complicity in the rape and sexual assault of minors and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
This case involved livestreaming sexual assault of children, some as young as five years old. IJM calls on tech companies and financial institutions to take decisive action to prevent such atrocities on their platforms, apps and devices.
The glaring absence of preventive measures over nearly a decade has highlighted critical failures by tech platforms and financial institutions to detect and report online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).
This case exposes alarming gaps in tech and financial systems that should be designed safe to protect vulnerable children and prevent exploitation.
“This case reveals systemic failures by tech and financial companies to stop the exploitation of children on their platforms.
"France, the European Union, and nations around the world have the power—and responsibility—to enact robust online safety laws that demand tech companies detect/report or disrupt/prevent live child sexual abuse on their platforms, apps, and products. Financial institutions must also be held accountable for blocking suspicious financial transactions tied to exploitation.
"Small, irregular payments, from one sender to many recipients, is a hallmark pattern for child sexual exploitation payments, in particular what Europol calls 'live-distance child abuse'—which is 'the main form of commercial sexual exploitation of children and as a major source of unknown CSAM.'
"Financial institutions must be held to a higher standard when it comes to child protection, using enhanced due diligence to interdict and block these payments,” said John Tanagho, Executive Director of IJM’s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.
“Beyond prosecuting online sex offenders, an industry-wide 'safety by design' response by the tech and financial sector is crucial to prevent and disrupt abuse and exploitation upstream,” Tanagho added.
“And it must include the device manufacturers, because every day smart phones running on sophisticated operating systems come with zero safety built in them to prevent child sexual abuse material production, streaming, and distribution.”
IJM also urges the Philippine government to strictly enforce the Anti-OSAEC Law passed last year, including the mandate for tech platforms to monitor and act against child exploitation.
The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), according to IJM, should also issue implementing rules and regulations requiring financial institutions to identify and interdict transactions tied to exploitation, particularly suspicious patterns that are indicative of child trafficking.
OSAEC remains widespread in the Philippines, with IJM’s Scale of Harm national prevalence study estimating that in 2022 alone, nearly half a million Filipino children—or 1 in every 100—were victims of OSAEC, including livestreamed abuse.
IJM has supported Filipino authorities to bring more than 1,400 children to safety from abuse. According to previous studies by IJM, over half the children abused in cases that we have worked on are 12 years old or younger, with the youngest being just a few months old. In more than 80 percent of these cases, children were exploited by parents or relatives.
Children experience significant mental and physical trauma from this abuse. In the Philippines, IJM has found that victims are abused on average for two years prior to safeguarding.
In April 2024, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued a directive to intensify efforts against OSAEC. This mandate calls for strengthened law enforcement to rescue victims, prosecute offenders, and implement a comprehensive approach to combat OSAEC.
He also established the Presidential Office for Child Protection to coordinate a national response, enhancing institutional and legal measures specifically aimed at protecting children from OSAEC.
IJM, in collaboration with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), organised a national OSAEC summit last 16th September, launching the nationwide campaign “Bayang Walang Bahid ng OSAEC” (A Country Unblemished by OSAEC). The campaign aims to deepen public awareness and dismantle community-based norms that hinder reporting.
Alongside efforts to increase community reporting, IJM’s Scale of Harm report underscores the urgent need for tech companies and financial institutions to adopt industry-wide standards to detect and disrupt exploitation at an early stage.
“This case in France exemplifies how global efforts to protect children must address enablers across multiple sectors. Children deserve more than just justice in the courtroom—they deserve a world where the tech and financial industries stop enabling child sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking actively work to keep children safe.” said Tanagho.
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For inquiries, contact Molly Hodson: [email protected]
Learn more: IJM.org.ph