Inside the dark world of Australia's child predators: Detective reveals the signs parents miss

Published: 03:15, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 03:16, 24 May 2026 A former child sexual abuse detective has warned parents to be vigilant amid a growing spate of shocking abuse revelations across Australia. Kristi McVee, who spent a decade investigating child sexual abuse cases in WA, said the rise in allegations could be linked to an increase in reporting. However, she said the dangers of social media and pornography could not be emphasised enough. 'Once upon a time, before the dark web, child sex offenders hunted alone, now they hunt in packs. Now they share their images and ideas with other people online,' Ms McVee said. She said parents are often unknowingly the first target in a predator's plan in a video shared to social media. 'Predators are very good at changing with the times, they're just so quick to move wherever kids are, where there's unrestricted access. 'I have a saying: it's not everyone but it can be anyone. 'There are two things child sex offenders do to groom adults so they can get close to kids,' she said. 'Number one, they want you to like them. Number two, they need you to trust them.' Former child sexual abuse detective Kristi McVee wants parents to be vigilant amid a rise in child sexual abuse allegations Ms McVee spent a decade investigating child sexual-abuses in WA and arresting predators She said that offenders often embed themselves in a family's life, posing as friends, mentors or even community helpers to gain the trust they need to be left alone with a child. 'If they're not someone who is in your family already, like a parent or a grandparent, they're going to be someone introduced to your family. 'They're going to need you to trust them.' She said paedophiles often seek out alone time with children and go out of their way to arrange situations where other adults are not present, such as sleepovers, private tutoring or 'special' playdates. In many cases, the adult will keep secrets with the child and ask them not to tell their parents, using phrases like 'this is our little secret' or 'I'll get in trouble if you tell.' They may also shower the child with special treats, extravagant gifts or foods their parents have said no to as a way of building loyalty and complicity. 'How this looks depends on the person, but they're very friendly, very helpful, offering opinions, offering advice, wanting to help coach or wanting to help support, it's dependent on the child and the relationship,' she said. 'If it's a coach, for instance [the pedo might say] your child's very special, they need extra support. Ms McVee believes porn has normalised child sexual abuse and that younger people are now getting led down that path 'If it's a friend who wants to get closer to your children they might say let me take them for the weekend so that you can have a night off - it really depends. 'They want you to like them and they want you to trust them so they can get your children alone with them.' Ms McVee also shared some of the common red flags that parents often miss. She said predators may try to normalise inappropriate physical contact, such as giving excessive hugs and kisses or insisting children sit on their lap. They may touch the child in ways that are unnecessary, including around areas close to their private parts, she said. Another tactic involves treating the child as though they are more mature than they are, including exposing them to adult content. Predators may create opportunities for nudity or semi-nudity, for instance by offering to bathe or change the child, while showing little regard for their privacy. In some cases, they will deliberately undermine parents by dismissing their rules, going behind their back or brushing off the importance of teaching body safety and abuse prevention. 2,000 children in Victoria were urged to undergo infectious disease testing last year after a childcare worker was charged with the mass sexual abuse of babies While recent child abuse cases cannot be specifically referred to because they are before the courts, Ms McVee's comments come months after 2,000 children in Victoria were urged to undergo infectious disease testing after a childcare worker was charged with the mass sexual abuse of babies. 'These type of cases are extreme because there are hundreds of kids involved. One of the things that bothers me is of course they work in these places,' she said. 'These people are going into these spaces because they know they'll be trusted.' Ms McVee, whose time in the WA Police Force involved interviewing children, arresting offenders and managing sex offenders after their release from jail, said she learnt that child sex offenders are 'super sneaky.' 'Perpetrators are super sneaky and manipulative, we had a saying - only the dumb ones get caught,' she said. 'Most of the time you'd never actually get enough evidence to be able to charge them. Unless there's video evidence, a child's disclosure was necessary. Sometimes we were dealing with children who didn't even know they were being abused, or weren't ready to speak to the police. 'It was very frustrating and very heartbreaking.' She said she often saw children remain in abusive situations they could not escape if they were unable to press charges. Australian men are in the top three consumers of online child sexual abuse around the world While the work was challenging but rewarding, Ms McVee said she ultimately decided to leave the WA Police Force after one case involving a mother and her two daughters. She is still in the same field, but now works as a child safety expert providing education programs to parents, guardians, teachers and children. 'You do get de-sensitised over time, you don't get as shocked. But I walked away after my last case knowing I couldn't do it anymore because it was a mother and these two little girls, aged seven and five,' she said. 'The seven-year-old was talking about how she was trying to protect her younger sibling and she was very open because she'd been removed from the mother's care and was feeling safe enough to talk. 'I knew around 10 to 12 percent of offenders are female - but for me as a mother, it was really hard to fathom how a mother could do that.' The mother of one said the traditional image of a child sex offender as a 'creepy old man in the white van giving out lollies' is a fallacy, and that attention should now turn to younger people. 'I think pornography is grooming sex offenders - every time I arrested a child sex offender and was looking through their devices, they were full of pornography,' she said. 'Porn nowadays has become more aggressive - you just have to go to the front page of a porn site and its like "my teen sister" or "step-mum" and some of the themes are based around child sex abuse like inter-familial abuse. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study found 28.5 per cent of Australian individuals experienced child sexual abuse  'So it's not even that they're looking for it, it's being force fed to them.' It is an issue reflected in international statistics showing Australian men are among the top three consumers of live-streamed child sexual abuse material in the world. In September, the Australian Federal Police noted a 41 per cent jump in reports of online child sexual exploitation in the 2024/2025 financial year. In 2023, an Australian Child Maltreatment Study found 28.5 per cent of individuals experienced child sexual abuse. The study, which surveyed over 8,500 people aged 16 and over, also found more than one in three girls had been offended against, and almost one in five boys. While Ms McVee acknowledges the statistics are shocking, she believes children are coming forward more often because they know their rights better. She also highlighted a 50 per cent increase in child-on-child abuse. 'I put this down to pornography and access to inappropriate content online,' she said. 'If a five-year-old boy is playing Roblox and they go into an experience and to interact with someone they have to take their clothes off and simulate sex - they're playing that in a game, therefore they think it's normal to do that with other kids. 'Roblox is one of the biggest enforcers of this behaviour in young children -any platform that allows children to interact with strangers is an issue.' She said some parents can be 'completely oblivious' to the dangers of social media platforms, and encouraged caregivers to not allow their children to have unsupervised access online. 'I think parents just think, not my child, not my family. But it's every family. Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it hasn't happened and it's not happening. 'Offenders will test you with the small stuff before they abuse you, so they throw out tests to see how you react and if the child doesn't say anything to their parents, they'll go on to the next stage of the abuse. They are constantly testing boundaries.' She also encourages parents and caregivers to teach children 'body safety' through her Conversations with Kids cards - a practice that shows kids what to do or how to talk if someone makes them feel uncomfortable. 'I want parents to realise they have a lot more power than they think they do. A lot of parents feel disempowered and that there's nothing they can do to protect their kids,' she said. 'But the truth is is that when we have the knowledge to be able to identify those people who aren't safe, we do have the opportunity to prevent it.' National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 Groomers will often look for a child with low self-esteem and/or little parental protection. Groomers will work to make the child feel 'special' and dependent on them.  Children will often find themselves alone with their abuser during this phase and may begin to trust their own parents/carers less.  Once the child trusts the groomer and is cut-off from their protective figures, the abuser will begin to sexualise their interaction.  The abusers will maintain their power of the child through manipulation, such as telling them no one would believe they're being abused.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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