Keeping Our Kids Safe

Hundreds of known child predators are right now roaming free across Australia, despite police having proof they have communicated with and transferred money to one of the world's most prolific child traffickers. 

Why are these known offenders still walking our streets, and what's being done to address Australia's worsening child sex offender crisis? 

In a special investigation airing this Sunday at 9.00pm on Seven and 7plus, 7NEWS Spotlight exposes a list of 395 Australians suspected of participating in a disturbing new trend: directing the abuse of children overseas from their homes in Australia.   

7NEWS Spotlight's Liam Bartlett goes undercover with an extraordinary group called Destiny Rescue who track down and expose child sex traffickers. 

Made up of former detectives and special forces operatives, the group's goal is to rescue children sold into sex trafficking. They gave 7NEWS Spotlight's cameras exclusive access as they orchestrate raids with local enforcement agencies. 

Destiny Rescue operative and former homicide detective Matt Valentine said: "I've seen more Australians involved in crimes against children than I have of any other nationality. 

"It's in our Australian backyard. We need to be very, very concerned." 

Back home, 7NEWS Spotlight tracks down one of the 395 men on the client list – a grandad and businessman living in regional Australia – who is free and will never spend a day in prison, even after he directed the abuse of a little girl. 

Psychologist Peter Ashkar tells 7NEWS Spotlight that offenders who use the internet to commit their crimes overseas are posing a real risk to Australian kids: "That type of offender will almost certainly use whatever opportunity that they have to commit a similar type of sexual offense against a similar type of victim in person, if they have the opportunity to do so." 

Liam Bartlett said: "Australian men are fuelling a global trade in child sexual abuse, and they're doing it from the comfort of their own homes in suburbs around the country. The experts tell us one in every two will eventually want to have physical contact with a child in their local community and that is truly disturbing. 

"Destiny Rescue has done the hard work: identifying offenders, rescuing children, handing over names. But good police work means nothing if it doesn't lead to jail time. Letting these men walk free sends a chilling message: that child abuse, even directed from afar, is somehow forgivable. It's not."