Child Rescue is the New Zealand branch of the Destiny Rescue family, a global network of organisations. At times, we may use ‘we’ and ‘our’ alongside Destiny Rescue to reflect the collective efforts of this international network in rescuing children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking, and supporting their long-term freedom.

Trigger warning: Even with some of the more graphic details removed, the following story contains themes of sexual violence and child abuse that may be disturbing to some readers. Please read with discretion.

It was Friday afternoon. All they knew was that she was on a boat.

Huddled around a wall projector in their office building, this team of INTERPOL-certified assessors was studying an appalling video showing a 10-year-old girl suffering at the hands of an abuser. Local authorities had found the video for sale online and just sent it over, asking this team, The Scientia Program, a cross-NGO team of tech experts we’re a part of, to help them find the little girl.

The video was extremely horrific. Agents dubbed the victim “Katie,” giving her what dignity they could as they searched. Katie’s suffering rent the agents’ hearts, but they couldn’t afford to look away.

The team studied the video in detail, but they weren’t focused on the abuse. Katie’s suffering was evident; they were only interested in ending it.

Instead, they concentrated on the minute details in the background. When the abuser’s face came into view, a team member took a screenshot and worked with authorities to find the suspect.

Another team member studied the room’s interior, gathering clues to the type of vessel they were on.

Other team members studied the audio footage, using local news playing on the radio to date the video. They pored over the clothing, the lighting and the items in the boat cabin. They even noted the terrain ashore by observing it through the cabin’s windows.

The team was relentless, melding decades of combined expertise with cutting-edge technology to build a case that police could act upon. Before the weekend was over, they’d done it.

They presented the police with a comprehensive case file containing the suspect’s name, age, and occupation. The make and model of the cargo ship where the abuse was filmed. Near-exact coordinates of the fishing boat’s location on a particular river in Thailand. The time frame in which the abuse occurred.

And most importantly, Katie’s real identity.

Just a few days after giving our team a single video without any added context, the police arrested the suspect. The investigation revealed that Katie had been abused during a school break a few weeks earlier. Once agents discovered where Katie went to school, she was pulled from class by a kind caseworker who gently coaxed the full story from the hurting child.

Katie explained that she’d been sent to spend a school break with her cousin on the cargo ship. Katie’s single mother was drowning in debt and working multiple shifts, so staying with family seemed like the best option. But it soon became clear that Katie was anything but safe.

Katie bravely described how her cousin’s boyfriend tortured and abused her again and again and again, threatening to hurt or starve her if she didn’t comply. There was nowhere to run, no way to escape the vessel. Despite Katie’s pleas for help, her 17-year-old cousin filmed the abuse instead of fighting it. The 10-year-old was trapped for weeks, completely at the mercy of an unpredictable, cruel monster. “I’m so terrified of him,” Katie said through tearful eyes.

Katie has since learned to smile again.

After her abuser was arrested, Katie was entrusted to a local children’s home where loving staff helped her navigate her traumatic experience. One of our agents who’d worked the case spoke with a caseworker there and learned that Katie’s whole demeanour had changed. The once-anxious girl has become happy and cheerful again. “Knowing that her life and mind have been liberated from the shackles of forced rape, physical abuse and severe mental trauma… completely wiped away my exhaustion,” the agent said.

Every single day, our rescue agents step into the darkness to bring children back into the light. The toll it takes is heavy, but the reward of seeing a life ushered into the light of freedom is worth it. Will you also make a sacrifice for a suffering child? Fill out the form below to rescue a child today.