Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:50:58.447Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2.6 - Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

from Part II - Psychology and Criminal Behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

By
Ethel Quayle
Edited by
Jennifer M. Brown  and
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Jennifer M. Brown
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Affiliation:
University of Suffolk
Get access

Summary

For most people across the world the availability of the Internet and, in particular, hand-held devices, has had a positive impact on the way that people interact with the world and each other. However, this has also been associated with a number of cybercrimes and the focus of this chapter is online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA). These crimes include the production, preparation, consumption, sharing, dissemination or possession of CSEM and the solicitation of children for sexual purposes (sometimes called ‘grooming’), whether or not it results, or is intended to result, in a contact offence. It is difficult to make meaningful estimates of the scale of these crimes as conviction data is dependent on an individual being identified and the capacity of law enforcement to analyse the digital data associated with the crime. However, converging data would suggest that these crimes are increasing. OCSEA crimes may take place within a specific country but national and international cross-disciplinary collaboration is needed to both identify, locate and safeguard victims and prevent, investigate and prosecute these crimes. Europe is one region that has given greatest consideration to the issue of child exploitation and in particular child sexual abuse materials. In the last twenty years there has been considerable progress in understanding the demographic profiles of people who commit OCSEA crimes, what motivates them to offend and how they may be assessed in relation to future risks, particularly the commission of contact offences. However, it is unclear why our existing data would suggest that both identified OCSEA offenders and victims are more likely to be White rather than representing country-specific population demographics.

Keywords

InternetOnline Child Sexual Abuse and ExploitationLaw EnforcementSex Offenders
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology , pp. 279 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Açar, K. V. (2018). OSINT by crowdsourcing: A theoretical model for online child abuse investigations. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 12(1), 206–229.Google Scholar
Babchishin, K., Hanson, M., & VanZuylen, R. (2015). Online child pornography offenders are different: a meta-analysis of the characteristics of online and offline sex offenders against children. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 45–66.Google Scholar
Babchishin, K., Merdian, H., Bartels, R., & Perkins, D. (2018). Child sexual exploitation materials offenders. European Psychologist, 23(2), 130–143.Google Scholar
Baines, V. (2019). Member state responses to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. https://rm.coe.int/191120-baseline-mapping-web-version-3-/168098e109Google Scholar
Bickart, W., Mclearen, A., Grady, M., & Stoler, K. (2019). A descriptive study of psychosocial characteristics and offense patterns in females with online child pornography offenses. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 26(2), 295–311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Briggs, P., Simon, W., & Simonsen, S. (2011). An exploratory study of internet-initiated sexual offenses and the chat room sex offender: Has the internet enabled a new typology of sex offender? Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 23(1), 72–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broome, L., Izura, C., & Lorenzo-Dus, N. (2018). A systematic review of fantasy driven vs. contact driven internet-initiated sexual offences: Discrete or overlapping typologies? Child Abuse & Neglect, 79, 434.Google Scholar
Brown, R., Napier, S., & Smith, R. (2020). Australians who view live streaming of child sexual abuse: An analysis of financial transactions. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 589, 1–16.Google Scholar
Bursztein, E., Bright, T., DeLaune, M., Elifff, D.M., Hsu, N., Olson, , Shehan, J., Thakur, M., & Thomas, K. (2019). Re-thinking the detection of child sexual abuse imagery on the Internet. Proceedings of the 2019 World Wide Web Conference (WWW ’19), San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Caneppele, S., & Aebi, M. (2019). Crime drop or police recording flop? On the relationship between the decrease of offline crime and the increase of online and hybrid crimes. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 13(1), 66–79.Google Scholar
Carr, J. (2019). Mechanisms for collective action to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Council of Europe. https://childhub.org/en/system/tdf/library/attachments/191120.comparative_reviews_-_web_version_1.pdf.pdfGoogle Scholar
Council of the European Union. (2001, November 23). Convention on Cybercrime, Budapest.Google Scholar
ECPAT. (2018). Trends in online child sexual abuse material.Google Scholar
Eke, A., Helmus, L., & Seto, M. (2019). A validation study of the Child Pornography Internet Sexual Offending (C-ISO) Scale. Sexual Abuse. Advance online publication.Google Scholar
Elliott, I., & Beech, A. (2009). Understanding online child pornography use: Applying sexual offense theory to internet offenders. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(3), 180–193.Google Scholar
Elliott, I., Mandeville-Norden, R., Rakestrow-Dickens, J., & Beech, A. (2019). Reoffending rates in a U.K. community sample of individuals with convictions for indecent images of children. Law and Human Behavior, 43(4), 369–382.Google Scholar
EUCPN. (2015). Cybercrime: a theoretical overview of the growing digital threat. In: EUCPN Secretariat (eds.), EUCPN Theoretical Paper Series, European Crime Prevention Network: Brussels.Google Scholar
EUROPOL. (2018). Internet organised crime threat assessment. https://www.europol.europa.eu/internet-organised-crime-threat-assessment-2018Google Scholar
Farrell, G. & Birks, D. (2018). Did cybercrime cause the crime drop? Crime Science, 7(8), 1–4.Google Scholar
Faust, E., Bickart, W., Renaud, C., & Camp, S. (2015). Child pornography possessors andGoogle Scholar
Finkelhor, D. & Jones, L. (2006) Why have child maltreatment and child victimization declined? Journal of Social Issues, 62(4), 685–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortin, F., Paquette, S., & Dupont, B. (2018). From online to offline sexual offending: Episodes and obstacles. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 39, 33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frangež, D., Klančnik, A. T., Žagar Karer, M., Ludvigsen, B. E., Kończyk, J., Ruiz Perez, F., & Lewin, M. (2015). The importance of terminology related to child sexual exploitation. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 66(4), 291–299.Google Scholar
Garrington, C., Chamberlain, P., Rickwood, D., & Boer, D. (2018a). Risk assessment of online child abuse material (CAM) offenders: A review of existing tools. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 8(2), 150–161.Google Scholar
Garrington, C., Rickwood, D., Chamberlain, P., & Boer, P., D. (2018b). A systematic review of risk variables for child abuse material offenders. Journal of Forensic Practice, 20(2), 91–101.Google Scholar
Gassó, A., Klettke, B., Agustina, J., Montiel, I. (2019). Sexting, mental health, and victimization among adolescents: a literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13).Google Scholar
Gewirtz-Meydan, A., Lahav, Y., Walsh, W., Finkelhor, D. (2019). Psychopathology among adult survivors of child pornography. Child Abuse & Neglect, 98, 104189.Google Scholar
Gillespie, (2018) Child pornography, Information & Communications Technology Law, 27(1), 30–54,Google Scholar
Glasgow, D., 2010. The potential of digital evidence to contribute to risk assessment of internet offenders. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 16(1), 87–106.Google Scholar
Goller, A., Jones, R., Dittmann, V., Taylor, P., & Graf, M. (2016). Criminal recidivism of illegal pornography offenders in the overall population – a national cohort study of 4612 offenders in Switzerland. Advances in Applied Sociology, 6(2), 48–56.Google Scholar
Greijer, S., & Doek, J. (2016). Terminology guidelines for the protection of children from sexual exploitation and abuse. Bangkok: ECPAT. https://www.ecpat.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=767a10a9-bd87–4531-b901-ae86dbb3e795Google Scholar
Henry, N., Flynn, A., & Powell, A. (2019). Image-based sexual abuse: Victims and perpetrators. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 572, 1–19.Google Scholar
Henshaw, M., Ogloff, J., & Clough, J. (2018). Demographic, mental health, and offending characteristics of online child exploitation material offenders: A comparison with contact‐only and dual sexual offenders. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 36(2), 198–215.Google Scholar
Hirschtritt, M.E., Tucker, D., & Binder, R.L. (2019). Risk assessment of online child sexual exploitation offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 47(2), 155–164.Google Scholar
Houtepen, J., Sijtsema, J., & Bogaerts, S. (2014). From child pornography offending to child sexual abuse: A review of child pornography offender characteristics and risks for cross-over. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(5), 466–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howitt, D., & Sheldon, K. (2007). The role of cognitive distortions in paedophilic offending: Internet and contact offenders compared. Psychology, Crime & Law, 13(5), 469–486.Google Scholar
IWF. (2019). Trends in online child sexual exploitation: Examining the distribution of captures of live-streamed child sexual abuse. www.iwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/inlinefiles/Distribution%20of%20Captures%20of%20Live-streamed%20Child%20Sexual%20Abuse%20FINAL.pdfGoogle Scholar
Keller, M.H. (2020). A $5 billion proposal to fight online child sexual abuse. www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/us/child-abuse-legislation.htmlGoogle Scholar
Keller, M.H., & Dance, G.J.X. (2019). The Internet is overrun with images of child sexual abuse. what went wrong? www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-abuse.htmlGoogle Scholar
Knack, N., Holmes, D., & Fedoroff, J. (2020). Motivational pathways underlying the onset and maintenance of viewing child pornography on the Internet. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 38(2), 100–116.Google Scholar
Laaksonen, T., Sariola, H., Johansson, A., Jern, P., Varjonen, M., Von Der Pahlen, B, Sandnabba, N., & Santtila, P. (2011). Changes in the prevalence of child sexual abuse, its risk factors, and their associations as a function of age cohort in a Finnish population sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35(7), 480–490.Google Scholar
Lanzarote Committee. (2016). Opinion on Article 23 of the Lanzarote Convention and its explanatory note. https://edoc.coe.int/en/children-s-rights/7064-lanzarote-committee-opinion-on-article-23-of-the-lanzarote-convention-and-its-explanatory-note.htmlGoogle Scholar
Long, M., Alison, L., Tejeiro, R., Hendricks, E., & Giles, S. (2016). KIRAT: law enforcement’s prioritization tool for investigating indent image offenders, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 22(1) 12–21.Google Scholar
Maas, M., Bray, K., & Noll, B. (2019). Online sexual experiences predict subsequent sexual health and victimization outcomes among female adolescents: a latent class analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(5), 837–849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madigan, S., Villani, V., Azzopardi, C., Laut, D., Smith, T., Temple, J.R., Browne, D., & Dimitropoulos, G. (2018). The prevalence of unwanted online sexual exposure and solicitation among youth: a meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(2), 133–141.Google Scholar
May-Chahal, C., & Palmer, E. (2018). Rapid evidence assessment: characteristics and vulnerabilities of victims of online-facilitated child sexual abuse and exploitation. www.iicsa.org.ukGoogle Scholar
Merdian, H., Curtis, C., Thakker, J., Wilson, N., & Boer, D. (2014). The endorsement of cognitive distortions: Comparing child pornography offenders and contact sex offenders. Psychology, Crime & Law, 20(10), 971–993.Google Scholar
Miró‑Llinares, F., & Moneva, A. (2019). What about cyberspace (and cybercrime alongside it)? A reply to Farrell and Birks “Did cybercrime cause the crime drop?” Crime Science, 8(12).Google Scholar
Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., Jones, L.M., & Wolak, J. (2010). Use of social networking sites in online sex crimes against minors: an examination of national incidence and means of utilization. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47(2), 183–190.Google Scholar
Nodeland, B., & Morris, R. (2020). A test of social learning theory and self-control on cyber offending. Deviant Behavior, 41(1), 41–56.Google Scholar
OfCom. (2019). Online nation 2019 report. www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/149146/online-nation-report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Paquette, S., & Cortoni, F. (2019). The development and validation of the Cognitions of Internet Sexual Offending (C-ISO) scale. Sexual Abuse, 32(8), 907–930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paquette, S., Longpré, N., & Cortoni, F., 2019. A billion distorted thoughts: An exploratory study of criminogenic cognitions among men who sexually exploit children over the Internet. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 64(10–11), 1114–1133.Google Scholar
Pashang, S., Khanlou, N., & Clarke, J. (2019). The mental health impact of cyber sexual violence on youth identity. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17(5), 1119–1131.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center. (2019). 10 tech-related trends that shaped the decade. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/20/10-tech-related-trends-that-shaped-the-decade/Google Scholar
Powell, A., Henry, N., & Flynn, A. (2018). Image-based sexual abuse. In DeKeseredy, W.S. & Dragiewicz, M. (Eds.), Handbook of critical criminology. Routledge.Google Scholar
Quayle, E. (2016). Researching online child sexual exploitation and abuse: Are there links between online and offline vulnerabilities? Global Kids Online. www.globalkidsonline.net/sexual-exploitationGoogle Scholar
Quayle, E. (2020). Prevention, disruption and deterrence of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. ERA Forum.Google Scholar
Quayle, E., & Newman, E. (2015). The role of sexual images in online and offline sexual behaviour with minors. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(6), 1–6.Google Scholar
Quayle, E., & Jones, T. (2011). Sexualised images of children on the Internet. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 23, 7–21.Google Scholar
Quayle, E., & Taylor, M. (2003). Model of problematic Internet use in people with a sexual interest in children. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 6(1), 93–106.Google Scholar
Quayle, E., Allegro, S., Hutton, L., Sheath, M., & Lööf, L. (2014). Rapid skill acquisition and online sexual grooming of children. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 368–375.Google Scholar
Quayle, E., Jonsson, L.S., Cooper, K., Traynor, J., & Svedin, C.G. (2018). Children in identified sexual images – who are they? Self- and non-self-taken images in the international child sexual exploitation image database 2006–2015. Child Abuse Review, 27(3), 223–238.Google Scholar
Rimer, J. (2019). “In the street they’re real, in a picture they’re not” – constructions of children and childhood among users of online child sexual exploitation material. Child Abuse & Neglect, 90, 160–173.Google Scholar
Seigfried-Spellar, K.C., & Rogers, M.K. (2013). Does deviant pornography use follow a Guttman-like progression? Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), 1997–2003.Google Scholar
Seto, M. (2019). The motivation-facilitation model of sexual offending. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 31(1), 3–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seto, M., & Eke, A. (2015). Predicting recidivism among adult male child pornography offenders: Development of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT). Law and Human Behavior, 39(4), 416–429.Google Scholar
Seto, M., & Eke, A. (2017). Correlates of admitted sexual interest in children among individuals convicted of child pornography offenses. Law and Human Behavior, 41(3), 305–313.Google Scholar
Seto, M., Reeves, L., & Jung, S. (2010). Explanations given by child pornography offenders for their crimes. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 16(2), 169–180.Google Scholar
Seto, M.C., Cantor, J.M., & Blanchard, R. (2006). Child pornography offenses are a valid diagnostic indicator of pedophilia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(3), 610.Google Scholar
Seto, M., Buckman, C., Dwyer, R., & Quayle, E. (2018). Production and active trading of child sexual exploitation images depicting identified victims. www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/ncmec-analysis/Production%20and%20Active%20Trading%20of%20CSAM_FullReport_FINAL.pdfGoogle Scholar
Shields, M., Tonmyr, L., & Hovdestad, W. (2019). The decline of child sexual abuse in Canada: Evidence from the 2014 General Social Survey. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 64(9), 638–646.Google Scholar
Soldino, V., Carbonell-Vayá, E., & Seigfried-Spellar, K. (2020). Spanish validation of the child pornography offender risk tool. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment. 1079063220928958.Google Scholar
Steel, C., Newman, E., O’Rourke, S., & Quayle, E. (2020). A systematic review of cognitive distortions in online child sexual exploitation material offenders. Agression & Violent Behavior.Google Scholar
Taylor, M., & Quayle, E. (2003). Child pornography: an internet crime, Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly (UNGA). (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r025.htmGoogle Scholar
UNGA. (2000). Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPSCCRCGoogle Scholar
UNODC Cybercrime. (2019). www.unodc.org/unodc/en/cybercrime/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Wager, N., Armitage, R., Christmann, K., Gallagher, B., Ioannou, M. Parkinson, S., et al. (2018). Rapid evidence assessment: quantifying the extent of online-facilitated child sexual abuse: Report for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.Google Scholar
Ward, J., & Patel, N. (2006). Broadening the discussion on sexual exploitation’: ethnicity, sexual exploitation and young people. Child Abuse Review, 15(5), 341.Google Scholar
WeProtect Global Alliance. (2016). Preventing and tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA): A model national response.Google Scholar
Winder, B., & Gough, B. (2010). “I never touched anybody – that’s my defence”: A qualitative analysis of internet sex offender accounts. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 16(2), 125–141.Google Scholar
Winder, B., Gough, B., & Seymour-Smith, S. (2015). Stumbling into sexual crime: the passive perpetrator in accounts by male internet sex offenders. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(1), 167–180.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×