Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2024

The Internet is an integral part of daily life, with many Canadians depending on it for work, commerce, entertainment, shopping, and social connection. While the benefits cannot be understated, the Internet has also transformed the landscape of criminal activity, facilitating certain types of crime such as identity theft, extortion, and the online sexual exploitation of children and youth.

Ongoing technological advancements continue to create new opportunities for perpetrators to access potential victims, while also making it easier for children and youth to meet and interact with strangers online (Europol, 2024; Internet Watch Foundation, 2024; WeProtect Global Alliance, 2023). Online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) has become—and continues to be—a global public health problem with serious and potentially life-long consequences for victims. OCSE is addressed by a wide range of Criminal Code offences, including luring, invitation to sexual touching, non-consensual distribution of intimate images where the victim is under the age of 18 years, and online child sexual abuse and exploitation material^Note  (see Text box 1).

In 2004, Public Safety Canada—in partnership with Justice Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police—announced Canada’s National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy) as a commitment to combat child sexual exploitation online. The National Strategy highlights the prevention efforts taken to better protect children and youth online, including increasing investigational capacity,^Note  enhancing public education and awareness, and providing support for further research on OCSE. Several updates have been made to the National Strategy since 2004, and the federal government continues to work in partnership with countries across the globe to address OCSE at an international level.^Note 

Using data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey and the Integrated Criminal Court Survey, this Juristat presents an update to the article “Online child sexual exploitation: A statistical profile of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2022,” released in 2024. The current article presents the latest available data on police-reported OCSE incidents, including victim, accused and incident characteristics, as well as the most recent data on court outcomes and sentencing decisions.

This article was produced with funding support from Public Safety Canada.

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Police-reported incidents of online child sexual exploitation decreased 16% from 2023 to 2024, driven by fewer online child sexual abuse and exploitation material incidents

In 2024, police reported 16,905 incidents where there was at least one OCSE offence, 2,952 fewer than the previous year (Table 1-A).^Note  This number translates to a rate of 223 incidents per 100,000 children and youth in Canada, down 16% from 2023 (266 incidents per 100,000 children and youth) (Table 1-B). This decrease was driven by a sharp decline (-24%) in the number of online child sexual abuse and exploitation material (OCSAEM) incidents reported by police in 2024 (from 17,160 incidents in 2023 to 12,978 incidents in 2024) (Chart 1).^Note  Consistent with previous years, OCSAEM offences represented the large majority (77%) of all OCSE incidents in 2024.

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The rest of this section presents the two OCSE categories (online sexual offences against children and online sexual abuse and exploitation material offences) separately.

Online sexual offences against children

Despite the overall decrease in the rate of police-reported OCSE incidents from 2023 to 2024 (-16%), there was a 43% increase in the rate of online sexual offences against children, from 36 to 52 incidents per 100,000 children and youth (Table 1-B). This increase was driven by a sharp increase (+65%) in the rate of luring.

The rate of police-reported online sexual offences against children was 110% higher in 2024 compared to 2018 (when revisions to the definition of a founded incident were implemented to the UCR Survey) and 182% higher than a decade prior in 2014. 

Large increase in the number and rate of luring incidents from 2023 to 2024

Consistent with previous years, luring—the offence of communicating with a child or youth online for the purpose of committing a sexual offence—accounted for the majority (74%) of all police-reported online sexual offences against children in 2024 (Table 1-A).

There were 2,903 luring incidents reported by police in 2024, 1,173 more than in 2023. Following a slight decline (-3%) in 2023, the rate of luring increased in 2024 (+65%) from 23 to 38 incidents per 100,000 population aged 17 years and younger, the highest rate on record since comparable data became available in 2014.              

Between 2018 and 2024, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection noted a 1,135% increase in the number of online luring reports received by Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tipline for reporting the abuse and exploitation of children online—rising from 220 reports in 2018 to 2,717 in 2024.^Note  Police-reported data show a 137% increase in the number of luring incidents during the same period. While the number of reports received by Cybertip.ca is a useful point of comparison, it should not be interpreted as a proxy for the number of luring victims, nor does it reflect the number of cases investigated by police services, for a given year.

Small decrease in the rate of non-consensual distribution of intimate images in 2024, following a large increase in 2023

Non-consensual distribution of intimate images (NCDII) involves forwarding or sharing intimate images of an individual without their consent. In December 2014, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act made NCDII a criminal offence in Canada. Since then, most provinces have also adopted a legal framework for addressing NCDII, providing victims with a civil avenue to seek protection orders, damages, and other legal remedies.^Note 

In 2024, police reported 488 incidents of NCDII involving a victim aged 17 years or younger, 8 fewer than in 2023.^Note  The rate of NCDII declined 3%, from 6.7 incidents per 100,000 children and youth in 2023 to 6.4 in 2024. This slight decrease followed a 36% rate increase from 2022 to 2023 (from 4.9 to 6.7 incidents per 100,000).

A growing proportion of online sexual offences against children are not cleared by police

In general, as the number of police-reported online sexual offences against children has increased since 2014, so has the proportion of incidents not cleared by police (Chart 2).

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This trend may be partially attributed to a change in the definition of founded crime in 2018. Prior to this update, police classified an incident as founded if, following an investigation, it was determined that a crime had occurred, even if no accused had been identified (Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2018). In January 2018, the definition of founded crime was updated to better reflect a victim-centred approach: “an incident is founded if, after police investigation, it has been determined that the reported offence did occur or was attempted (even if the charged/suspect chargeable (CSC) is unknown) or there is no credible evidence to confirm that the reported incident did not take place. This includes third party reports that fit these criteria.” In other words, an incident is considered founded unless there is clear evidence to refute it.

More incidents are now captured in police-reported data as a result of this change. In general, while the number of unfounded incidents has decreased since 2018, many are now classified as not cleared by police—either because there is insufficient evidence to proceed with laying or recommending a charge, the incident is still open and under investigation, or the victim declines to proceed (no accused identified).

An accused was identified in around one in four online sexual offences against children incidents reported by police in 2024

As digital technologies continue to evolve at a rapid pace, police services face increasingly complex challenges when investigating cybercrime. The inherently “borderless” nature of the Internet has created new opportunities for perpetrators to access potential victims (WeProtect Global Alliance, 2023). Further, data are often purposely stored in jurisdictions with strict privacy laws, complicating access for investigators who may need to rely on international cooperation during the investigation (Horan & Saiedian, 2021; Rakha, 2023). The Internet also provides perpetrators with a high degree of anonymity—especially when content is hosted or shared on end-to-end encrypted platforms—making it easier for them to evade detection. For example, social media platforms like Snapchat—a widely used messaging application—retain data only for a limited time, as images and messages are designed to disappear once viewed.

In 2024, approximately one in four (24%) incidents of online sexual offences against children were cleared by police, meaning that an accused person had been identified in connection to the incident (Table 2). The clearance rate was much higher than the clearance rate for all cybercrime incidents reported by police in 2024 (10%).^Note 

The proportion of incidents cleared by police varied by offence type. While around three-quarters (76%) of invitation to sexual touching incidents were cleared by police in 2024, a smaller proportion of luring (16%) and non-consensual distribution of intimate images (34%) incidents were cleared.

Smaller proportion of online sexual offences against children incidents resulted in charges being laid or recommended against an accused in 2024 compared with previous years

In 2024, 17% of incidents of online sexual offences against children resulted in charges being laid or recommended against an accused—a larger proportion than of cybercrime incidents overall (7%).

In 2024, the proportion of online sexual offences against children incidents cleared by charge was considerably lower than in 2023 (26% of incidents) and 2018 (33% of incidents), which may be partially attributed to the increase in the number of incidents in 2024. The proportion of incidents of online sexual offences against children cleared by the laying or recommendation of charges varied by offence type, ranging from 9% of NCDII incidents to 74% of invitation to sexual touching incidents (Table 2).

Notably, 26% of NCDII incidents involving children and youth were cleared otherwise, meaning that an accused had been identified but no charges were laid or recommended by police. Reasons for an incident being cleared otherwise may include, for example, the accused being directed to a formal diversionary program, which is common when the accused falls under the purview of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The YCJA is designed to divert youth accused of criminal offences away from the traditional criminal justice system using alternative measures, depending on the severity of the offence.^Note  In cleared incidents where the age of the accused was recorded by police, the median age of accused persons for this offence type was 14 years, meaning that most accused were youth and, as such, eligible for diversion programs.

The majority of online sexual offences against children are reported to police the same or next day following the incident

In 2024, more than 7 in 10 (72%) online sexual offences against children were reported to police either the same or next day (Table 3). A small (14%) proportion of incidents were reported more than one month after the recorded end date of the incident. 

There may be a delay between the occurrence of an offence and the date it is reported to—or comes to the attention of—police. For instance, young children may not recognize online sexual abuse or may lack the knowledge or resources needed to report it.

Almost four in five victims of online sexual offences against children are girls

In 2024, similar to most other police-reported and self-reported sexual offences (Burczycka, 2020; Cotter, 2021; Perreault, 2020), the majority (78%) of victims of police-reported online sexual offences against children were girls (Table 4). The rate was almost four times higher among girls (35 victims per 100,000 girls aged 17 years and younger) compared with boys (9 victims per 100,000 boys aged 17 years and younger). While girls were much more likely than boys to be victims of these types of crime, the gender gap was smaller than for most other police-reported sexual offences, like sexual assault (Conroy, 2024).

Youth aged 12 to 17 years accounted for the large majority (85%) of victims of online sexual offences against children. This may be partly influenced by the greater likelihood of youth having access to the Internet, technology-enabled devices, and their own social media accounts compared to children aged 11 years and younger. Additionally, sexual experimentation and an increase in risk-taking behaviours during these years may increase the risk of online victimization (Finkelhor et al., 2024). 

Overall, victims of online sexual offences against children were most likely to be victimized by a stranger (32%), followed by a casual acquaintance (25%) (Table 4). More specifically, a stranger was the accused for over two in five victims of luring (42%). For non-consensual distribution of intimate images, victims were most often targeted by a casual acquaintance (32%) or current or former spouse, common-law, dating or other intimate partner (29%).^Note 

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Online child sexual abuse and exploitation material

Child sexual abuse and exploitation material is defined in the Criminal Code as any photograph, film, video, or other visual representation, along with written or audio material, that (1) depicts a person under the age of 18 (or represented as being under 18) years engaged in explicit sexual activity or (2) the dominant characteristic is the depiction for a sexual purpose of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of 18 years. It is a criminal offence to produce, distribute, possess, and access child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

The harmful consequences of online child sexual abuse and exploitation material (OCSAEM) are well-documented, with research showing that victims of this crime can endure profound and lasting harm extending far beyond the initial abuse (Hanson, 2017; Insoll et al., 2022; Joleby et al., 2020; Martínez-Bacaicoa et al., 2024). Victims report living with the fear that images or recordings of their abuse and exploitation may exist and could be circulating online, leading to recurring feelings of guilt, embarrassment, helplessness, shame, and vulnerability (Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 2017; Gewirtz-Meydan et al., 2018; McGlynn et al., 2021; Mitchell et al., 2025).

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) is the primary point of contact in Canada for investigations related to the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. In collaboration with both national and international policing partners, the NCECC works to identify and assist child victims of online child sexual exploitation living in Canada, and to identify and prosecute those responsible for these crimes (see Text box 2 for more information).

As previously noted, police-reported data can be influenced by reporting practices. The presence or absence of public awareness campaigns and digital safety initiatives targeted towards children and youth can impact the decision to report OCSE, as well as mandatory reporting of OCSAEM by Internet service providers (Public Safety Canada, 2022).

Sharp drop in the number of online child sexual abuse and exploitation material incidents reported by police in 2024

Overall, there were 12,978 OCSAEM incidents reported by police in 2024, corresponding to a rate of 171 incidents per 100,000 children and youth (Table 1-B). Following a large (+81%) increase from 2022 to 2023, the rate of OCSAEM incidents decreased 26% from 2023 to 2024. The previous increase was partially the result of more cases—both current and historical—being brought forward to local police services by specialized provincial Internet Child Exploitation police units and the NCECC. That being said, the rate in 2024 was 35% higher than in 2022 (171 versus 127 incidents per 100,000 children and youth). Making or distributing OCSAEM incidents accounted for almost two-thirds (64%) of all OCSE incidents in 2024.

Making or distributing offences account for most incidents of online child sexual abuse and exploitation material

In 2024, incidents of making or distributing OCSAEM accounted for more than four in five (83%) OCSAEM incidents. While the number of incidents dropped 27% from 2023 to 2024 (-4,076 incidents), the number of incidents reported by police in 2024 was 42% higher than in 2022. Incidents of possessing or accessing OCSAEM accounted for the remaining 17% of OCSAEM incidents in 2024.

Each year since 2016, making or distributing OCSAEM has accounted for the majority of OCSAEM incidents.

Most online child sexual abuse and exploitation material incidents are not cleared by police

In 2024, 94% of OCSAEM incidents were not cleared by police, with the large majority (82%) of these incidents being classified as having insufficient evidence to proceed with the laying or recommendation of charges against an accused (Table 2). Possessing or accessing offences were more than twice as likely to be cleared by police compared with making or distributing offences (12% and 5%, respectively).

Youth aged 12 to 17 years account for almost two in five persons accused of online child sexual abuse and exploitation material offences

In 2024, there were 816 persons accused in incidents of OCSAEM, and the large majority (87%) of accused were men and boys (Table 5). The median age of those accused of OCSAEM was much higher among men and boys than women and girls (29 versus 14 years), and almost two in five (37%) of those accused of OCSAEM were youth aged 12 to 17 years. Among youth accused, just over 7 in 10 (73%) were boys.

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Court cases related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online, 2014/2015 to 2023/2024

The Integrated Criminal Court Survey collects information on adult criminal and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences. This section of the analysis presents a brief overview of court and sentencing outcomes for adult criminal and youth court cases completed between 2014/2015 and 2023/2024 related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online.^Note 

Previous analysis shows that attrition—the difference between the number of incidents reported by police and the number resulting in a completed court case—is particularly high for OCSE: for every 1,000 incidents reported by police between 2014 and 2021, 82 resulted in a completed court case by the end of 2022/2023 (Savage, 2025).^Note 

From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2024, criminal courts in Canada processed 44,489 charges related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online. These charges were processed as part of 15,112 completed cases with 99,243 total charges.^Note  Based on the number of total charges and cases completed during this time frame, adult cases averaged 6.9 charges per case, while youth cases averaged 4.8 charges per case.

A single court case can involve multiple charges. Between 2014/2015 and 2023/2024, there were 11,253 completed court cases where a child sexual offence likely committed or facilitated online was the most serious charge in the case. The rest of the analysis is based on these cases.

Seven in ten online child sexual exploitation cases completed in adult criminal court resulted in a guilty decision

In adult criminal court, 7 in 10 (71%) cases resulted in a finding of guilt (Table 7). This proportion varied by offence type, ranging from 63% of cases where making or distributing child sexual abuse and exploitation material was the most serious offence to 77% of possessing or accessing child sexual abuse material cases (Chart 4).

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In adult criminal court, custody was the most serious sentence for 80% of cases (Table 7).

More than half of cases completed in youth court resulted in a finding of guilt

In Canada, adult criminal and youth courts are separate, recognizing that youth accused of committing a criminal offence should be handled differently by the criminal justice system, with a greater focus on early and effective community-based intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration (Howell et al., 2013). The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) (2003) governs the youth justice system and applies to youth aged 12 to 17 years who have committed, or are alleged to have committed, a criminal offence.^Note  Almost two in five (36%) persons accused by police of committing an OCSE offence in 2024 were youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years, and slightly more than one-quarter (26%) of youth accused had charges laid or recommended against them.

From 2014/2015 to 2023/2024, more than half (56%) of cases completed in youth court resulted in a finding of guilt. This proportion likely reflects the most serious cases, since less serious cases involving youth accused are often diverted from the court system under the YCJA. During this period, the most serious sentence handed down by youth courts was probation (69%) (Table 7).

Summary

In 2024, there were 16,905 incidents of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) reported by police, with most (77%) being for online child sexual abuse and exploitation material (OCSAEM) offences. The remaining 23% of OCSE offences were online sexual offences against children (OSOAC), which include offences such as luring, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, invitation to sexual touching, and other online sexual offences against children.

The rate of OCSE was 16% lower in 2024 than in 2023 (223 versus 266 incidents per 100,000 children and youth), and this decline was attributed to the decrease in the rate of OCSAEM incidents (-26%). However, despite the overall decline in the rate of OCSE, there was a 43% increase in the rate of OSOAC incidents, which was driven by a sharp increase in the rate of luring (+65%) incidents during the same period.

Once an OCSE incident has been reported, police services must identify an accused and obtain enough evidence to proceed with laying or recommending charges. Continuous advancements in digital technologies (e.g., the development of more sophisticated privacy-enhancing features and the increased availability of, and accessibility to, generative artificial intelligence) are making cybercrime investigations increasingly more challenging. In 2024, 10% of all OCSE incidents were cleared by police, with 7% of all incidents (68% of cleared incidents) resulting in charges against an accused.

From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2024, criminal courts in Canada processed 44,489 charges related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online. These charges were processed as part of 15,112 completed cases with 99,243 total charges. There were 11,253 completed adult and youth court cases where an OCSE offence was the most serious charge in the case. Of the cases completed in adult criminal court, 7 in 10 (71%) resulted in a finding of guilt. In youth court, more than half (56%) of cases completed in youth court resulted in a finding of guilt. This proportion likely reflects the most serious cases, since less serious cases involving youth accused are often diverted from the court system under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Detailed data tables

Table 1-A Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by type of offence and year, Canada, 2014 to 2024

Table 1-B Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by type of offence and year, Canada, 2014 to 2024

Table 2 Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by incident clearance status, Canada, 2024

Table 3 Police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by offence type and incident characteristic, Canada, 2024

Table 4 Victims of police-reported online sexual offences against children, by type of offence and victim characteristics, Canada, 2024

Table 5 Persons accused in police-reported online child sexual exploitation incidents, by type of offence and gender of the accused, Canada, 2024

Table 6 Incident and accused characteristics of persons who had contact with police as an accused person for an online child sexual exploitation offence in 2024, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2024

Table 7 Cases completed in adult criminal and youth courts related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online, by type of offence, case and accused characteristics, type of decision and most serious sentence, Canada, 2014/2015 to 2023/2024

Data sources

Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey was established in 1962 with the co-operation and assistance of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. The UCR was designed to measure criminal incidents that have been reported to federal, provincial/territorial and municipal police services in Canada. One incident can involve multiple offences. Counts presented in this article are based on the most serious cyber offence in the incident as determined by a standard classification rule used by all police services. The cyber violation is not necessarily the most serious violation in the incident.

Each year, the UCR database is frozen at the end of May for the production of crime statistics for the preceding calendar year. However, police services continue to send updated data to Statistics Canada after this date for incidents that occurred in previous years. Generally, these revisions constitute new accused records, as incidents are cleared and accused persons are identified by police. Some new incidents, however, may be added and previously reported incidents may be deleted as new information becomes known. Revisions are accepted for a one-year period after the data are initially released. The data are revised only once and are then permanently frozen.

The option for police to code victims and accused persons as non-binary in the UCR Survey was implemented in 2018. In the context of the UCR Survey, the term “non-binary” refers to a person who publicly expresses themselves as neither exclusively male nor exclusively female. Given that small counts of non-binary victims and accused persons may exist, the UCR Survey data available to the public have been recoded with these victims and accused persons distributed in the “men and boys” or “women and girls” categories based on the regional distribution of victims’ and accused persons’ gender. This recoding ensures the protection of the confidentiality and privacy of victims and accused persons.

Integrated Criminal Court Survey

The Integrated Criminal Court Survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute offences.

All adult courts have reported to the adult component of the survey since the 2006/2007 fiscal year. Information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec was not available for extraction from their electronic reporting systems and was therefore not reported to the survey. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was unavailable until 2018/2019.

A completed charge refers to a formal accusation against an accused person or company involving a federal statute offence that was processed by the courts at the same time and received a final decision. A case is defined as one or more charges against an accused person or company that were processed by the courts and received a final decision. A case combines all charges against the same person having one or more key overlapping dates (date of offence, date of initiation, date of first appearance, date of decision, or date of sentencing) into a single case.

Note to readers

Because of the complexity of cyber incidents, these data likely reflect the number of active or closed investigations for the year rather than the total number of incidents reported by police. Data are based on police-reported incidents that are recorded in police services' records management systems.

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