TRIGGER WARNING: The following content contains images and details that may be distressing.
Tropical flowers spread across patterned pink bedspreads.
Red football jerseys framed for posterity.
A kitchen complete with internet modem, window blinds and coffee mugs.
To the ordinary eye, these photographs look like mere slices of everyday life. But for the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) they're tiny clues that could help to identify, save and support victims of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE).
The images described above form part of the fourth Australian release of Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object, which began as a Europol initiative and involves the public release of 'cold case' OCSE images in search of community help to identify their origins.
This latest collection contains nine separate photos, which are each known to have an Australian nexus of either victim, location or offender.
While the photos have been censored to remove graphic material, the idea is the different knowledge sets, life experiences and locales of Australians right across the country might unearth useful information or insights.
Victim Identification Team Leader, Detective Sergeant Lana Carey, explained how it might work.
"One of the photos from this latest Stop Child Abuse - Trace an Object release shows two framed football jerseys, so, in putting it out into public, we're looking to spark the memory of anyone who might have come across them," Det Sgt Carey said.
"Possibilities here could include a player or club member who might recognise the jersey colours or design, a framer who might remember doing the job, or a fan who might know the significance of the number 8 and 11 jerseys being grouped together.
"It's about tapping into the wisdom of everyday Australians. And we know they're eager to play a role given the previous three image releases have generated 1372 reports and counting."
Det Sgt Carey noted every photo in this fourth collection represented a 'cold case' where all available lines of inquiry had been exhausted. But that didn't mean they were seen as dead ends.
"Our identification specialists never give up on a victim," she said. "We follow every lead and avenue we have when files first come into the ACCCE, and if we don't succeed, we will continue to visit them periodically year after year after year after year to see if new intelligence or technology might open up fresh lines of inquiry.
"It's about the never-ending hunt for closure, the commitment to saving and supporting victims and survivors and, hopefully, that bittersweet moment when you realise you've solved it."
AFP Commander Human Exploitation Helen Schneider said images of online child sexual exploitation came into the ACCCE from a variety of sources, including Victim ID taskforces and the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Regardless of their provenance, they shared one common factor - the determination of the people tasked with identifying them, frame by painstaking frame.
"Our victim identification team members receive fresh images of online child sexual exploitation every single day," Commander Schneider said.
"And every new file carries just as much horror and trauma for the victim as the one before it.
"Every one of them represents a life upended, so when team members take on a case they never give up; it's our version of looking for a needle in a haystack.
"We know community leads can make or break an investigation, so we encourage people to remember that any tip they give us - no matter how small - could change the life of a victim."
See the images online at accce.gov.au/trace where you can make a report of information.
