Featured Image Credit: BBC Four
Topics: Crime, US News, Film and TV, Podcast
Lucy Devine
A young girl was rescued from years of abuse after a clue was spotted in the background of a photograph.
A new documentary recently aired on BBC Four as well as on the BBC World of Secrets podcast, which follows US agent Greg Squire and his team of undercover investigators as they hunt down child sexual abuse offenders.
Viewers of Storyville: The Darkest Web watch as specialist teams work tirelessly to track down predators, as well as the victims of child sexual abuse, who are often in immediate danger.
In one incredible case, Greg and his team were able to rescue a victim named 'Lucy' after pictures found online revealed clues to her whereabouts.
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After discovering the images, the team started working around the clock to find Lucy and noticed a piece of furniture in the background of an image.
The furniture only had a limited number of sales in the US, which meant the team could narrow down the investigation to 29 states, before brick expert, John Harp, managed to secure a second break in the case.
He discovered that the bricks in Lucy's room were manufactured at a specific plant, which narrowed down the radius further.
The team managed to whittle down the number of potential people they believed could have been Lucy from 10,000 to 40-50.
“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," said Greg.
"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."
After 10 years since she was rescued, Lucy was reunited with Greg. She said: “I am incredibly lucky to have a good support system right now while I'm dealing with this. I have more stability. I'm able to have the energy to talk to people, which I could not have done even a couple years ago.
“I was praying, praying actively for it to end. I had been at that point for years. Not to sound cliché, but it was a prayer answered.”
The offender in the case was sentenced to 75 years in jail.
Sam Piranty, The Darkest Web director and World of Secrets podcast host, explained: “Over the seven years it took to make this film we were constantly grappling with how to confront such an unimaginably dark subject. There were long stretches where I questioned whether we could make something that conveyed the scale of the harm without making viewers turn away.
“Yet in the darkness we found the soul of the film - the hope, the chinks of light. The endless courage of both the survivors and the officers we met. 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.”
For US viewers, the documentary is available on the BBC World Service YouTube channel, BBC Select and BBC.com.
Meanwhile, it will also be heard as a podcast. World of Secrets, Season 11: The Darkest Web, is available now on BBC Sounds.