Factors associated with contact child sexual abuse in a sample of indecent image offenders

Abstract This study explored a sample of 244 UK adult male offenders convicted of offences involving indecent images of children (IIOC): 120 had a previous contact child sexual offence (defined as dual offenders) and 124 had no evidence of an offence against a child (defined as non-contact offenders). Offender groups were compared regarding their socio-demographic characteristics, previous convictions and IIOC possession. Key discriminatory factors that differentiated dual offenders were: access to children, previous offence history, sexual grooming and possession of IIOC that depicts similar-aged victims. In contrast, non-contact offenders could be identified from their greater amount and wider range of IIOC possession. The results suggest a homology between Internet behaviours, IIOC possession and victim selection. Implications for law enforcement agencies are discussed in terms of assisting investigative prioritisation by identifying those most at risk of committing sexual abuse against children.

[1]  A. Beech,et al.  Psychological Profiles of Internet Sexual Offenders , 2009, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[2]  A. Beech,et al.  Understanding online child pornography use: Applying sexual offense theory to internet offenders , 2009 .

[3]  Online abuse: literature review and policycontext , 2010 .

[4]  A. Beech,et al.  The use of actuarial risk assessment measures with UK internet child pornography offenders , 2010 .

[5]  Pornography and the paedophile: is it criminogenic? , 1995, The British journal of medical psychology.

[6]  Chantal A. Hermann,et al.  The Characteristics of Online Sex Offenders: A Meta-Analysis , 2011, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[7]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[8]  Ann Wolbert Burgess,et al.  Sexual Homicide , 1986 .

[9]  Janis Wolak,et al.  Trends in Arrests of "Online Predators". , 2009 .

[10]  R. Wolfe,et al.  Considerations on Fantasy Use by Child Molesters and Exhibitionists , 2003, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[11]  Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers , 1996 .

[12]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[13]  Child Pornography: Patterns From NIBRS , 2004 .

[14]  Laurence Alison,et al.  Child pornography offenders: towards an evidenced-based approach to prioritizing the investigation of indecent image offences , 2011 .

[15]  T. Elbert,et al.  The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending , 2009, BMC psychiatry.

[16]  Janis Wolak,et al.  The varieties of child pornography production. , 2005 .

[17]  J. Sullivan,et al.  A qualitative analysis of child sex offenders involved in the manufacture of indecent images of children , 2010 .

[18]  E. Quayle,et al.  child pornography and the internet: perpetuating a cycle of abuse , 2002 .

[19]  M. Seto,et al.  Contact Sexual Offending by Men With Online Sexual Offenses , 2011, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[20]  Laurence A Alison,et al.  Child Pornography and Likelihood of Contact Abuse , 2013, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[21]  M. Seto,et al.  Online solicitation offenders are different from child pornography offenders and lower risk contact sexual offenders. , 2012, Law and Human Behavior.

[22]  A. Beech,et al.  An investigation into the applicability of the Ward and Siegert Pathways Model of child sexual abuse with Internet offenders , 2006 .

[23]  Cybersex offender risk assessment. An explorative study , 2010 .

[24]  K. Browne,et al.  Child sexual abuse prevention: what offenders tell us. , 1995, Child abuse & neglect.

[25]  M. Seto,et al.  Examining the Criminal History and Future Offending of Child Pornography Offenders: An Extended Prospective Follow-up Study , 2011, Law and human behavior.

[26]  Dana E. Putnam,et al.  Initiation and Maintenance of Online Sexual Compulsivity: Implications for Assessment and Treatment , 2000, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[27]  E. Gilchrist,et al.  Sexual grooming of children: Review of literature and theoretical considerations , 2006 .

[28]  R. Edelmann,et al.  The Role of Criminal Fantasy in Predatory and Opportunist Sex Offending , 1997 .

[29]  M. Seto,et al.  Predictors of Child Pornography Offenses and Child Sexual Abuse in a Community Sample of Pedophiles and Hebephiles , 2011, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[30]  M. L. Bourke,et al.  The ‘Butner Study’ Redux: A Report of the Incidence of Hands-on Child Victimization by Child Pornography Offenders , 2009, Journal of Family Violence.

[31]  John Carr,et al.  Child Protection and Self-Regulation in the Internet Industry: The UK Experience. , 2009 .

[32]  M. Seto,et al.  The role of pornography in the etiology of sexual aggression , 2001 .

[33]  J. McCarthy,et al.  Internet sexual activity: A comparison between contact and non-contact child pornography offenders , 2010 .

[34]  Lorraine Sheridan,et al.  An investigation into maladaptive personality functioning in Internet sex offenders , 2007 .

[35]  W. Marshall,et al.  Early Onset and Deviant Sexuality in Child Molesters , 1991 .

[36]  Hannah Lena Merdian,et al.  Internet sex offenders , 2014 .

[37]  L. Webb,et al.  Characteristics of Internet Child Pornography Offenders: A Comparison with Child Molesters , 2007, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[38]  J. Warren,et al.  The sexually sadistic serial killer. , 1996, Journal of forensic sciences.

[39]  Chad M. S. Steel.  Child pornography in peer-to-peer networks. , 2009, Child abuse & neglect.

[40]  B. Hodgson,et al.  International and Internet Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: Research Report Centre for Applied Childhood Studies and The Nuffield Foundation , 2006 .

[41]  D. Howitt,et al.  Sexual fantasy in paedophile offenders: Can any model explain satisfactorily new findings from a study of Internet and contact sexual offenders? , 2008 .

[42]  Peter M. Briggs,et al.  An Exploratory Study of Internet-Initiated Sexual Offenses and the Chat Room Sex Offender: Has the Internet Enabled a New Typology of Sex Offender? , 2011, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[43]  D. Glasgow,et al.  The potential of digital evidence to contribute to risk assessment of internet offenders , 2010 .

[44]  A. Beech,et al.  The Psychological Profiles of Internet, Contact, and Mixed Internet/Contact Sex Offenders , 2013, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[45]  J. Wolak,et al.  Child Pornography Possessors: Trends in Offender and Case Characteristics , 2011, Sexual abuse : a journal of research and treatment.

[46]  E. Quayle,et al.  Sex offenders, internet child abuse images and emotional avoidance: The importance of values. , 2006 .

[47]  J. Morahan-Martin,et al.  Incidence and correlates of pathological Internet use among college students ? ? Portions of this pa , 2000 .