Online Sexual Predators

Due to its sensational nature, the spectre of unscrupulous adults preying upon and sexually exploiting youth online gets a lot of media attention. Although this does happen, sensational headlines do not help us understand the nature and true extent of the problem or how to deal with it effectively.

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]

 

[1] Statistics Canada. (2020). Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, Canada, provinces, territories and Census Metropolitan Areas: Luring a child via a computer, 2015-2019. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&pickMembers%5B1%5D=2.21&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2015&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2019&referencePeriods=20150101%2C20190101

[2] Finkelhor, D., Walsh, K., Jones, L., Mitchell, K., & Collier, A. (2020). Youth internet safety education: aligning programs with the evidence base. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1524838020916257.

[3] Kloess, J. A., Beech, A. R., & Harkins, L. (2014). Online child sexual exploitation: Prevalence, process, and offender characteristics. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(2), 126-139.

[4] Finkelhor, D., Walsh, K., Jones, L., Mitchell, K., & Collier, A. (2020). Youth internet safety education: aligning programs with the evidence base. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1524838020916257.

[5] Kloess, J. A., Seymour-Smith, S., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. E., Long, M. L., Shipley, D., & Beech, A. R. (2017). A qualitative analysis of offenders’ modus operandi in sexually exploitative interactions with children online. Sexual Abuse, 29(6), 563-591.

[6] Gámez-Guadix, M., Almendros, C., Calvete, E., & De Santisteban, P. (2018). Persuasion strategies and sexual solicitations and interactions in online sexual grooming of adolescents: Modeling direct and indirect pathways. Journal of Adolescence, 63, 11-18.

[7] Kloess, J. A., Beech, A. R., & Harkins, L. (2014). Online child sexual exploitation: Prevalence, process, and offender characteristics. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(2), 126-139.

[8] Dus, N., Izura, C. & Perez-Tattam, R. (2016). Understanding Grooming Discourse in Computer Mediated

Environments. Discourse, Context & Media

[9] Chiang, E., & Grant, T. (2017). Online grooming: moves and strategies. Language and Law, 4(1), 103-141.

[10] Pauls, K., & MacIntosh C. (2020). “Woman who spent years scrubbing explicit video from internet urges tech firms to make it easier to remove.” CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/canada-internet-children-abuse-pornography-1.5822042 

[11] DeHart, D., Dwyer, G., Seto, M. C., Moran, R., Letourneau, E., & Schwarz-Watts, D. (2017). Internet sexual solicitation of children: a proposed typology of offenders based on their chats, e-mails, and social network posts. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 23(1), 77-89.

[12] Kloess, J. A., Seymour-Smith, S., Hamilton-Giachritsis, C. E., Long, M. L., Shipley, D., & Beech, A. R. (2017). A qualitative analysis of offenders’ modus operandi in sexually exploitative interactions with children online. Sexual Abuse, 29(6), 563-591.