German officials have warned that artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in facilitating the sexual abuse of children, with criminals increasingly exploiting the technology.
According to Zharfa News Agency, Holger Münch, President of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), stated that child sexual abuse has “increasingly shifted into the digital space,” driving up overall statistics.
According to the agency’s new report, released on Tuesday, [July 22], 20,051 children in Germany fell victim to sexual abuse last year. This figure stood at 19,344 in 2024.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s Interior Minister, described these statistics as “worryingly high,” emphasizing that they do not account for the significant number of unreported cases.
German sources pointed to two troubling trends: a rise in cyber-facilitated abuse targeting children through the creation of false trust, and the widespread use of artificial intelligence.
According to Kerstin Claus, the Federal Government Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues, AI has accelerated this trend by enabling the creation of fake identities and the simulation of friendship in chats.
German sources say that while AI-generated child pornography has not increased the number of real-world victims, it has made police work more difficult. According to the source, distinguishing authentic content from AI-generated material—and the sheer volume of AI-produced content—has created new challenges for investigations.
