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WINNIPEG, Manitoba, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian advocacy group dedicated to child safety says that online sexual exploitation, sometimes called “sextortion,” of children has skyrocketed by an alarming 88 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic, given that more time is spent online.

“On average, Cybertip.ca receives 40 sextortion reports a month. Many of the reports involve offenders connecting with youth through social media and live stream platforms like Snapchat, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger and Omegle,” said the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) in a recent statement.

“Simply put, sextortion is blackmail. It’s when someone online threatens to send a sexual image or video of the child/youth to other people if they don’t pay the person or provide more sexual content.”

The C3P said in the press release that due to youth spending more time online amid COVID-19 lockdowns, their tip line called Cybertip.ca has seen an “88% increase in reports.” That number, however, does not necessarily “reflect the true scope of this growing problem.”

According to the C3P, it is “shame” and “guilt” that keeps youth from “telling anyone they are being sextorted.”

In Canada, law enforcement agencies have sounded the alarm over the recent increase in online “sextortion” threats targeting kids in Canada.

A report from last year goes over how Canadians are increasingly being bombarded by “sextortion” email scams. These scams usually involve a victim being blackmailed to send money to an unknown perpetrator, who threatens to release claimed nude photos of a person if they don’t comply.

Signy Arnason, the Associate Executive for C3P said in the press release that there is help available that can assist “youth gain back control of the situation.”

“We want to remind youth they don’t have to deal with difficult online situations alone. There is help,” said Arnason.

C3P says their Cybertip.ca website also has help for families along with educators in the form of “prevention information regarding how sextortion can happen, talking points to have with youth about the issue, and how to help a youth who’s been sextorted.”

The C3P website lists the group as a national charity “dedicated to the personal safety of all children.”

“Our goal is to reduce the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, assist in the location of missing children, and prevent child victimization through a number of programs, services, and resources for Canadian families, educators, child-serving organizations, law enforcement, and other parties.”

A recent blog by LifeSite’s Jonathon Van Maren goes over how parents need to increase their vigilance during COVID-19 lockdowns.

“With many children spending far more time than usual in front of screens, it is necessary for parents to be aware of the fact that even entertainment targeted at children is now infused with a sexual and progressive agenda — and worse, that the porn industry is specifically targeting children by tagging hardcore porn content with the names of characters from Disney films and Paw Patrol,” he wrote.