00:02This 14-year-old girl essentially fostered what she thought was a friendship with a 16-year-old boy on
00:09an online gaming platform, and then she describes essentially being groomed over a period of time. This started last year.
00:17It then became manipulation and pressure for her to send him explicit content to self-harm and carry out these
00:25really dark ritualistic acts.
00:28She says she was threatened if she didn't comply, and this actually got to the point that she was told
00:33to live-stream her suicide. Her parents made a report to the police as soon as they found out this
00:39is now an active WA police investigation. They believe her perpetrator is in Eastern Europe, and they're working to pull
00:48together evidence to track him down with overseas authorities.
00:51And what are the motivation of these groups, and how widespread are they?
00:54Yeah, it's difficult to fathom why anyone would push children to do these really disturbing acts. A lot of detectives
01:02have told me this is unlike anything they've come across before, and it's been spreading globally over the last several
01:08years.
01:10Essentially, what police tell me is that these individuals compete for clout into pushing vulnerable kids into doing these depraved
01:19acts. They then share this material online. I've spoken to the FBI and the AFP, and they say law enforcement
01:26agencies around the world are working together to crack down on sadistic online exploitation. But unfortunately, we are starting to
01:33see cases emerge in Australia.
01:34And what's the advice to parents then? What should they be looking out for?
01:38Look, things like keeping an eye on who your children are speaking to online, being vigilant for behavioural changes if
01:46they're withdrawing from their friendship groups or usual sort of social activities, as well as sort of maintaining a safe
01:53space for them to come forward and of course reporting anything to police.
01:57Doreena, thank you.
02:30Thanks for seeing this.
