Trigger warning: The following story references the sexual abuse of a 2-year-old—readers with a history of abuse as a child or sexual abuse of any kind should be advised.

The child in the startling image couldn’t be over 3 years old.

Operatives with The Scientia Program, a cross-NGO anti-online trafficking unit we’re a part of, had just helped Thai police arrest a prolific online trafficker who’d been selling horrible footage of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. Under the direction of local authorities, our team pored over the abhorrent videos the woman had been distributing online.

One video on the drive caught their attention immediately. A little girl, whom we’ll call Aree, had been filmed while being sexually abused by an older man. Agents dove in, carefully analysing the video to determine if it was actionable.

First, they needed to determine if the video was recent; this wasn’t some old, recycled CSAM. They got their confirmation when a cigarette carton in the background revealed an updated tax stamp that had only been implemented recently. Aree was in imminent danger of suffering more abuse unless she was found soon.

The team quickly set out to find out Aree’s real name and location. The trafficker whose arrest uncovered all of this didn’t know the child’s identity; she’d just been hired by the abuser to help him sell the video online to paying child predators.

The girl was too young for facial recognition software to be of any use, and the perpetrator kept his face mostly hidden in the video.

They went deeper. Every tiny detail brought them closer to pinpointing where the abuse actually took place.

Before long, the agents were ready to transfer their investigation from online to physical. Still collaborating with police, agents went undercover on the ground near where they believed Aree lived, hiding in plain sight to gather information.

Their efforts paid off. Soon, police and investigators had a complete picture of Aree’s situation. The details were heartbreaking.

Aree was a happy, boisterous 2-year-old girl who lived with her loving parents, neither of whom had any idea what had been happening to her. Occasionally, they’d leave her in the care of Aree’s grandfather, who lived next door.

That’s where the abuse happened.

Aree was too young to advocate for herself, too innocent to realise she was being groomed and abused. Her parents couldn’t have imagined the truth. Without outside intervention, there was no way to stop the trafficking.

The Scientia Program team acted quickly.

Rather than fighting the arrest, the grandfather was bemused. “Your team’s great,” he shamelessly told one of our agents. “I didn’t think you’d be able to find me.”

As our team examined the man’s financials, they came to a surprising conclusion: he’d barely made any money selling CSAM.

One of our agents described why this was a welcome discovery: “This is a great success for our team (especially our analysts) due to the exploitation being caught very early. We were able to stop it at the very beginning of the exploitation.”

They were also grateful to see that the arrest didn’t seem to affect Aree.

All too often, the arrest of a close family member, even if they are an abuser, can be traumatic for a child victim. That wasn’t the case for Aree. “She had no idea of the situation,” our agent reported. “She was a very lively and energetic kid.”

Thanks to Scientia’s intervention, trafficking stopped for little Aree. She’s free to grow up safely with her parents, free from the man who’d used her innocence for profit.

More children like Aree are powerless to stop what’s being done to them.

It’s always incredibly hard to know there are children out there—children as young as Aree—that physically cannot speak up for themselves and may not even know that they’re suffering exploitation. But it’s also devastating to know that there are countless others who know they’re in grave danger, but feel there are no other options but to sell themselves to survive.

They need someone to step in on their behalf. Will you be that person? Fill out the form below to rescue a child today.