Twelve children were tentatively identified during a two-week victim identification taskforce hosted at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague.
The action ran from 13 to 24 April and brought together 34 specialists from Europol, INTERPOL and 31 countries to work on child sexual exploitation cases, Europol announced on Friday.
Experts analysed more than 317 datasets linked to child sexual exploitation, covering victims of both genders from toddlers to teenagers and from a range of national backgrounds.
The operation generated 204 leads that have been sent to national authorities for further investigation.
How the taskforces work
Europol hosts Victim Identification Taskforces twice a year, using its Image-Video Analysis System to sort and prioritise image and video datasets for victim identification, it said.
Since the system was deployed in 2016, Europol has processed more than 118 million unique files containing images and videos of child sexual abuse provided by law enforcement authorities.
Across taskforces held between 2014 and 2026, specialists analysed 8,585 datasets and produced 3,484 intelligence packages, with follow-up investigations by national authorities leading to 1,190 victims being identified and safeguarded and 330 offenders being apprehended.
The organisation also said it has added new items to its “Stop Child Abuse — Trace an Object” webpage, which asks the public to help identify victims by recognising objects shown in child sexual abuse cases.
Since the platform launched, 31 victims have been identified through anonymous tips.
