Online Sexual Predators

In 2019, 1,549 incidents of child luring on the Internet were reported by Canadian authorities. Of these, 242 were deemed unfounded, 651 were cleared and 326 people were charged: 257 adults and 69 youth. Though the total number of cases has risen in the past five years, the number of people actually charged has remained fairly stable.[1]

What strategies do online sexual predators use?

Contrary to the widespread belief that online predators “trick” kids, research shows that they rarely lie about their age or their motives.[2] Instead, predators are most often open about their age and will shower a youth with attention, sympathy, affection and kindness, in order to persuade the victim that they love and understand them.[3] A majority of predators are people that the victim already knows, who take advantage of the ability to communicate privately online, though the relationship may be with someone they did not know offline and may happen entirely online as well.[4]

Once the would-be predator has established a relationship with the victim they may try to “groom” them in a number of possible ways.[5] In some cases this will be a gradual process of building an emotional bond and the pretense of a romantic relationship[6], while others quickly introduce sexual themes or content into the conversation.[7] In either case, the predator’s twin goals are desensitization – making the victim accustomed to sexual talk or images – and reframing romantic or sexual relationships between teens and adults as being normal rather than harmful.[8] As the process continues, the predator will often take steps to gauge how the victim is likely to respond to further grooming, to find out whether and in what situations the victim is able to meet or connect without supervision, and to ensure that the victim does not talk to anyone about the relationship.[9]

As one victim describes her experience, "I had Skype downloaded on my phone so we can text during the day, and he would tell me how pretty I was and all this stuff and how I was so special, basically grooming me into believing that we had something so special and so breathtaking... and then he brought up the topic of doing Skype sex, basically, for him and with him. And I remember even being hesitant. But the driving force for me to do this was, this boy likes me and the only way he will continue to like me is if I do this for him."[10]

Predators’ ultimate goals vary as well, with some seeking an in-person sexual encounter, some hoping to develop an online sexual relationship, and some trying to get sexual images or video that can be used for blackmail.[11] There is overlap between these categories as well, and predators are frequently opportunistic, adapting their goals and strategies based on what they feel each victim is willing to do.[12]