Public Urged to Help Identify Objects Linked to Child Abuse: Tiny Clues Could Help Save Children
Tropical flowers on a pink bedspread. A pair of framed red football jerseys. A modest kitchen with blinds, mugs and an internet modem perched almost apologetically on the bench.
They could be snapshots from any Australian household. But for investigators at the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), they are the fragmented clues in a national manhunt — one fought frame-by-frame to identify, rescue and support victims of online child sexual exploitation.
These everyday objects form part of the fourth Australian release of Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object, a program that publishes carefully sanitised images linked to cold-case abuse files.
The goal: harness the random genius of the Australian public — the football fan, the dressmaker, the kitchen tiler, the cleaner, the former tenant — anyone whose memory might ignite a lead where traditional investigative work has stalled.
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TRIGGER WARNING: The following content contains images and details that may be distressing.
“It’s about tapping into the wisdom of everyday Australians,” said Detective Sergeant Lana Carey, Victim Identification Team Leader.
“One of the photos shows two framed football jerseys. When we put that out publicly, we’re hoping someone recognises the colours, the stitching, the framing style — even why number 8 and number 11 might matter together.”
Carey says previous Trace an Object releases generated more than 1,372 public reports — proof that crowdsourcing, when properly deployed, can be the missing piece in the most complex cases.
Cold Cases That Never Go Cold
Each of the nine images in the new release is tied to a location, victim or offender in Australia. All represent investigations where every conventional lead has already been exhausted.
But the AFP stresses this does not mean investigators have given up.
“Our specialists never give up on a victim,” Det Sgt Carey said. “We revisit cases year after year, looking for new intelligence or technology that might open up fresh avenues. It’s a never-ending hunt for closure — and hopefully that bittersweet moment when you realise you’ve solved it.”
Commander Helen Schneider, who oversees Human Exploitation at the AFP, says the team receives new material every day — each file as distressing and urgent as the one before it.
“Every one of them represents a life upended,” she said. “Investigations like this are our version of looking for a needle in a haystack — except the haystack keeps growing. A single community tip can change everything.”
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The New Clues: Ordinary Items, Extraordinary Significance
The AFP has released brief context for each image to help jog public memory:
Two framed sporting jerseys (2501006).
Numbers 8 and 11 from a local football club. The pairing is believed to have significance in having them framed together. They aren’t a commercial product; they would relate to a local football club.
An anklet (2501008).
The ACCCE knows the abuse material from this series was likely produced about 2014-2015. This means the anklet could well have been worn by a woman who is now in her early 20s, and could be recognisable to the victim, their friends or family.
A bedroom with yellow patterned carpet (2501009).
The playmat is already identified, but the carpet in this bedroom setting — likely from around 2015 — might click with cleaners, builders, real estate agents or former occupants who might have seen the mat in a similar environment.
A handmade or market dress (2501007).
Not mass-produced. Dressmakers, fabric-store staff or market stallholders may recall seeing clothes like this for sale.
A small kitchen (2501004).
Its layout, tiles or appliance brands could be recognisable to tilers, builders, realtors or appliance retailers. The modem in the kitchen sitting on a storage rack is unusual – do you remember seeing that?
A Queensland bedroom from 2009 (2501003).
Includes cane furniture, floral quilts — an uncommon pairing that may jog a memory. This image dates back to a Queensland bedroom in 2009 and includes a cane chair alongside the single bedframes and floral-patterned quilt covers. It’s a fairly uncommon combination, so could well trigger a memory, either for the person whose bedroom it was, or a friend or family member who remembers visiting.
Bedroom with radio bedhead, circa 2000–2002 (2301004).
The radio brand is known. The location and people connected to the room are not. This is the oldest image in this fourth release of Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object, with the radio bedhead thought to date back to between September 2000 and October 2002. The team already knows a few things, including the brand of radio in this bedhead. But not the location of the room or people connected with it, or the context of items such as the computer chair, speckled cream carpet, mattress, wall covering, carpet, lights, mirror and side tables, noting they may have changed colour or been renovated over time. Information sources could be builders, realtors or domestic cleaners.
Distinctive owl pillow sold overseas (2102001).
The AFP and ACCCE knows this distinctive owl pillow is sold overseas. What it now seeks is information about where it is, or has been, sold in Australia, given it’s not handmade. This could catch the eye of families, retail staff, interior design enthusiasts or, again, realtors or cleaners.
Architectural features from circa 2017 (2301001).
Tiles, balustrade, fireplace and parquetry may trigger recognition. This image, from aroubd 2017, was chosen for Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object as it showcases several distinct architectural features that may lend themselves to recognition. These include the balustrade and fireplace, as well as the tile and parquetry flooring in front.
Australians can view the images at accce.gov.au and submit information anonymously.
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A National Effort Against a Global Crime
The AFP and ACCCE emphasise the correct legal term: Child Abuse Material, not pornography — a deliberate shift introduced in 2019 to reflect the gravity of the crimes. As the AFP noted, using the word “pornography” implies consent, distorts reality, and lends unearned legitimacy to abusers.
Every image, the agency stresses, records an actual child being harmed.
The ACCCE works as a national hub, bringing together investigators, intelligence analysts, victim support specialists and prevention educators. The centre also partners with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US and collaborates with Europol, making Trace an Object a global community effort.
What To Do If You Recognise Something
- View the images: accce.gov.au
- Submit any information — no matter how small.
- If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 000.
For those affected by online child abuse, support services are available, and ThinkUKnow offers guidance for parents and carers to help keep children safe online.
The AFP’s message is clear: any detail could change a life. Even the kind of detail most people forget — unless, of course, they happen to remember it at exactly the right time.
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