The BBC World Service podcast World of Secrets returns with a six-part investigation into child sexual abuse networks operating on the dark web.
World of Secrets: The Darkest Web follows US agent Greg Squire and a global group of undercover investigators as they infiltrate encrypted forums used to share illegal material and evade detection. The series is released on BBC World Service and available on BBC Sounds.
The podcast runs alongside a new documentary from BBC Eye for Storyville, airing on BBC Four and iPlayer.
BBC Eye, the investigative unit within the World Service, was granted access to teams in the United States, Portugal, Brazil and Russia as they worked to identify offenders and rescue children.
One case examined in detail involves a girl referred to as Lucy. Investigators began tracking her abuser in 2014 after images were discovered online.
By analysing furniture sales data and brick manufacturing records, officers narrowed a list of 10,000 potential suspects to fewer than 50.
Greg says: “So, we thought we had a fairly good shot if we looked through social media that somebody on that list might have a picture of Lucy on their page. And probably by 9am we were flipping through social media pages. And there was Lucy right in front of us. Couldn’t believe it. Nine months of looking and we’re sitting there staring at her, and we all looked and said, a hundred percent this is her. A hundred percent.”
The offender in Lucy’s case was later sentenced to 75 years in prison. More than a decade after her rescue, she is reunited with Greg in the programme.
Director and host Sam Piranty says: “Over the seven years it took to make this film we were constantly grappling with how to confront such an unimaginably dark subject… Witnessing their quiet sacrifices, their stubbornness in the face of something so terrifying, and their refusal to back down, gave us the resolve to keep making this film.”
The BBC estimates there are over one million active users on child sexual abuse forums, with fewer than 50 undercover agents globally working to infiltrate them.
