Experts say Jevon McSkimming offending highlights need for early intervention online
Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s behaviour fit into a pattern, a child exploitation charity said, after it emerged he told a colleague he needed different types of pornography to “make him feel anything”.
The 52-year-old admitted to using work devices to search child exploitation and bestiality images, with some of his Google search terms referencing incest and including words such as “slave”, “abuse” and “extreme”.
The summary of facts said McSkimming had contacted a colleague and admitted to them police had found “porn” on his laptop.
“He said that he had found a way around the normal police systems to look at porn and that he grew up in a house where pornography was normal.
“He also spoke with another colleague and said that over the years he had needed different types of pornography to make him feel anything, and it just kept escalating.”
National director of Ecpat Child Alert Eleanor Parkes told the Herald the organisation was concerned about growing evidence that people who access child sex abuse material online were increasingly seeking more extreme forms of content.
“We’re seeing indications that some users develop a form of tolerance,” Parkes said, “which can lead to a search for more explicit, violent or younger-age material.
“While this does not apply to everyone, the pattern is clear: as harmful consumption becomes habitual, the demand for more extreme material increases, fuelling further harm to victims and making rehabilitation more difficult once offending is established.”
Parkes said Ecpat believed addressing the issue needs a prevention-first, public health approach, not just a criminal justice response.
“The most effective interventions focus on stopping the harm before it occurs, when people are first becoming concerned about their sexual preferences or the content they are consuming.”
Ecpat’s key priorities include public health and stigma reduction to increase the visibility of help-seeking services and give individuals access to support before offending, and digital literacy and prevention education in order to promote healthy online behaviour from an early age.
Parkes also said early identification and referral is key so there are clear pathways to refer someone showing concerning online behaviour, and accessible therapeutic options to provide confidential and evidence-based interventions for those worried about their online behaviour.
Finally, Epcat said continued research and monitoring is needed with part of this being strengthening collaboration between law enforcement and organisations to help track evolving trends and improve prevention responses.
“Waiting until someone is caught is too late,” said Parkes, “both for those individuals and for the children being exploited.”