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TRENDS & ISSUES
in crime and criminal justice
A Typology of Online Child
Pornography Offending
Tony Krone
ISSN 0817-8542
ISBN 0 642 53843 3
GPO Box 2944
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
Tel: 02 6260 9221
Fax: 02 6260 9201
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Australian Government
Toni Makkai
Acting Director
No. 279 July 2004
The Internet has increased the range, volume and accessibility of sexually abusive imagery,
including child pornography. Child pornography depicts the sexual or sexualised physical abuse
of children under 16 years of age. Australia has joined many other nations in an international
effort to combat this multi-faceted global menace that combines both heavily networked and
highly individualised criminal behaviour. This paper examines the typology of online child
pornography offending, as well as law enforcement responses to the problem. This work is a
result of a collaborative program between the Australian Institute of Criminology and the
Australian High Tech Crime Centre.
Child pornography existed before the creation of the Internet. It is not possible to say whether the
advent of the Internet has fuelled the demand for child pornography and expanded an existing
market, or whether it simply satisfies in new ways a market that would have existed in any event.
It is clear, though, that the Internet provides an environment for the proliferation of child pornography
and the creation of an expanding market for its consumption. This paper explores three important
questions:
What is online child pornography?
Is there a typology of offending online?
If so, what are the implications for law enforcement?
What is child pornography? A non-legal definition
As pointed out by Taylor and Quayle (2003), the legal definition of child pornography does not
capture all the material that an adult with a sexual interest in children may consider sexualised or
sexual. As they argue, understanding why child pornography is produced and collected requires
us to think beyond the legal definition of child pornography. Based on a study of online content at
the Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe centre (COPINE), Taylor and Quayle
identified 10 categories of pictures that may be sexualised by an adult with a sexual interest in
children. Material in some of these categories does not come within the legal definition of child
pornography. For example, in the first category are non-erotic and non-sexualised pictures of
children in their underwear or swimming costumes from commercial or private sources, in which
the context or organisation by the collector indicates inappropriateness. The second category
comprises pictures of naked or semi-naked children in appropriate nudist settings. The third
category is of surreptitiously taken photographs of children in play areas or other safe environments
showing underwear or varying degrees of nakedness.
Although material in the first category and some of the material in the second and third will not be
caught by the legal definition of child pornography, all may be indicative of a sexual interest in
children and are therefore potentially important in the investigation of child pornography offences.
AUSTRALIAN HIGH TECH
CRIME CENTRE
A U S T R A L I A N C R I M I N O L O G Y O F I N S T I T U T E
The legal definition of child
pornography
The Australian regime to regulate
pornography (whether online or not)
essentially relies on state and territory laws
(for convenience referred to here as ‘state
laws’). The provisions prohibiting the
possession of child pornography are listed
in Table 1. There are also provisions against
the manufacture, distribution or sale of child
pornography with more severe penalties.
Child pornography is generally defined as
material that describes or depicts a person
under 16 years of age, or who appears to
be less than 16, in a manner that would
offend a reasonable adult. However, this
legal definition can be difficult to apply
(Grant et al. 1997) because of jurisdictional
differences. For example, in some states
there must also be the depiction of sexual
activity by the child or some other person
in the presence of the child. Difficulty also
arises from the fact that child pornography
laws usually require a judgment to be
made whether material is offensive or not.
The state laws regarding child pornography
intersect with federal censorship laws
contained in the Classification
(Publications, Films and Computer
Games) Act 1995 (Cwlth). In two
jurisdictions (NSW and NT) the legal
definition of child pornography also
includes material that has been refused
classification under this Classification Act.
The Broadcasting Services Amendment
(Online Services) Act 1999 (Cwlth) created
a non-criminal process for reporting web
sites that host material which would be
refused classification (as well as X- and
R-rated material that is easily accessible
without adult verification). The Australian
Broadcasting Authority (ABA) can issue
a take-down notice to have Australian-
based web sites remove this content. If
the site is hosted overseas, the ABA can
notify content filter developers to add it to
their lists of offensive sites (Chalmers
2002).
Proposed national law
In June 2004 the Australian government
introduced a Bill to enact federal laws, tied
to the power to regulate telecommunications,
covering child pornography and grooming
(Attorney-General’s Department 2004). The
Bill defines child pornography in terms of the
depiction of a child under 18 years of age
and provides for a penalty of 10 years for
possession of child pornography, and
15 years for online grooming.
Children actually or apparently under 16
It is not necessary to prove that a child
depicted was in fact less than 16 years of
age at the time the image was created. It
is enough that they appear to be under
that age. The legislation therefore applies
to images of a person over the age of 16
who is made to appear younger than that.
Standard medical indicators of the physical
developmental stages of children may be
used to assess whether an image depicts
a child under the age of 16 (Censorship
Review Board 2000).
Morphed images of children
The definition of child pornography may
include morphed pictures. Taylor (1999)
refers to such images as pseudo-
photographs, and they are classified
according to three types:
digitally altered and sexualised images
of bodies, such as a photograph of a
child in a swimming costume where
the costume has been electronically
removed;
separate images in one picture, such
as a child’s hand superimposed onto
an adult penis; and
a montage of pictures, some of which
are sexual.
The ease with which a morphed collection
can be put together, even without the
capacity to digitally alter images, is
illustrated by the case of convicted double
murderer and serial rapist Lenny Lawson.
Lawson was one of Australia’s longest
serving prisoners when he died in custody
at the age of 76, three days after being
transferred to a maximum-security unit.
This transfer followed the discovery in
Lawson’s cell of a collection of video tapes
which in part contained images from
Sesame Street spliced with other program
material to produce what was described
by the prison psychologist as a collection
of ‘voyeuristic sexual fantasies and sexual
perversion, often associated with children’
(Mitchell 2004).
Creating fictitious children under 16
Child pornography can be created without
directly involving a real person. The words
‘describing or depicting’ are capable of
including text, images and three-
dimensional objects. While these laws
were initially framed in relation to
photographs, videos and film, the language
extends to cover the development of online
pornography. The offence provisions do not
require a real person to be described or
depicted, and they include fictional
characters in text or digitally created
images of fictional characters.
In Dodge v R (2002) A Crim R 435, a
prisoner in Western Australia who was
serving a long sentence for sexual offences
against children was convicted of further
offences after writing 17 sexually explicit
stories about adult males involved in
2
Table 1: Child pornography possession offences
Jurisdiction Provision Year Maximum penalty
ACT s 65, Crimes Act 1900 1991 5 years
NSW s 578B, Crimes Act 1900 1995 2 years/100 penalty units
NT s 125B, Criminal Code 1996 2 years/$20,000
corporate penalty
Qld s 14, Classification of 1991 1 year/300 penalty units
Publications Act 1991
SA s 33, Summary Offences Act 1953 1992 1 year/$5,000
Tas. s 74, Classification (Publications, 1995 1 year/50 penalty units
Films and Computer Games)
Enforcement Act 1995
Vic. s 70, Crimes Act 1958 1995 5 years
WA s 60, Censorship Act 1996 1996 5 years
A U S T R A L I A N C R I M I N O L O G Y O F I N S T I T U T E
Table 2: Categories of child pornography
Level Description COPINE typology
1 Images depicting nudity or Nudist (naked or semi-naked in legitimate settings/
erotic posing, with no sexual sources);
activity Erotica (surreptitious photographs showing
underwear/nakedness);
Posing (deliberate posing suggesting sexual
content); and
Explicit erotic posing (emphasis on genital area)
2 Sexual activity between Explicit sexual activity not involving an adult
children, or solo masturbation by
a child
3 Non-penetrative sexual activity Assault (sexual assault involving an adult)
between adult(s) and child(ren)
4 Penetrative sexual activity Gross assault (penetrative assault involving
between adult(s) and child(ren) an adult)
5 Sadism or bestiality Sadistic/bestiality (sexual images involving pain
or animals)
As indicated above, not all material in the
categories of nudist or erotica would fit
the legal definition of child pornography.
The courts must consider the context
surrounding the making or keeping of
material in deciding whether it is child
pornography or not.
When it comes to assessing the severity
of an offence of possessing child
pornography, it is not enough to measure
the number of images of various types
involved. There are other indicators of
seriousness, such as the offender’s
engagement with the material. This may
include how long it has been held, the
degree to which it is organised by the
offender, how it was acquired, and whether
it is a trophy of the offender’s own sexual
abuse of a child (Taylor & Quayle 2003).
How are offences committed
online? A typology of
offending
As noted by Taylor and Quayle (2003), the
Internet provides the social, individual and
technological circumstances in which an
interest in child pornography flourishes.
Social
The Internet has been used to create
a self-justifying online community for
child pornography users.
Individual
Using the Internet, individuals can access
material and communicate with others
through a computer terminal providing an
apparently private sphere for the
expression of sexual fantasy.
Technological
Digital technology and the Internet
make it possible for child pornography
consumers to become obsessive
collectors so that the collection of
images becomes an end in itself. The
Internet also provides a ready means
to access material supporting
increasingly extreme sexual
fantasies. It can then be used to act
out those fantasies with children in
online interactions or in physical
meetings arranged online.
Knowing the differences in how online child
pornography offences are committed is
vitally important to understanding and
combating the problem of sexual
exploitation of children. What follows is a
Source: Sentencing Advisory Panel 2002
sexual acts with young children (mostly
boys aged less than 10). Dodge pleaded
guilty to child pornography charges for
supplying another prisoner with these
stories and of possessing the stories
himself. The appeal court noted that a
prison sentence was required because the
law sought to prevent access to child
pornography. However, the fact that no
child was involved in producing the material
was taken into account in reducing the
sentence from 18 to 12 months.
In contrast to the law in Australia, the United
States’ Child Pornography Prevention Act
1996 was a federal law that sought to prohibit
virtual child pornography. However the relevant
provision was struck down for being too widely
drafted. In Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition
(00-795) 535 US 234 (2002) the United States
Supreme Court held that the section infringed
the First Amendment right to free speech.
The provision defined child pornography
widely using the words ‘appears to be’ and
‘conveys the impression’ in relation to
depicting a person under the age of 18. The
Court found this wording too broad in the
absence of any requirement in the same
provision for the prosecution to prove that
the material is obscene.
Artistic merit or scientific or other purpose
The question of artistic merit must be
considered in relation to whether material is
offensive to a reasonable adult person or not.
In South Australia, a work of artistic merit is
exempted if there is not undue emphasis on
its indecent or offensive aspects.
Material may not be classed as child
pornography if it is held in good faith for
the advancement or dissemination of legal,
medical or scientific knowledge.
Possession for law enforcement
purposes
Where not specifically exempted in the same
legislative package, law enforcement officers
rely on general powers of investigation and
for the keeping of evidentiary material to retain
child pornography for law enforcement
purposes. Child pornography laws in NSW,
Victoria, WA and NT allow a law enforcement
officer to possess child pornography in the
exercise or performance of a power, function
or duty imposed by or under any Act or law.
Categorising child pornography
Police often distinguish between five
categories of child pornographic images. The
categories were originally developed in the
United Kingdom based on the 10-point
typology of such images developed by
COPINE. These range from nudist shots and
surreptitious eroticised underwear or semi-
naked shots, through to penetrative sexual
assault and sadism or bestiality (Table 2).
While it may be beneficial for police to
prioritise their investigations by reference to
the seriousness of the images involved, the
full extent of an offender’s collection may not
be known until an investigation is well
under way.
3
A U S T R A L I A N C R I M I N O L O G Y O F I N S T I T U T E
discussion of the typology of offending
(summarised in Table 3). There is an
increasing seriousness of offending, from
offences that do not directly involve a child,
to offences that involve direct contact with
children, and from online grooming to
physical abuse.
Browser
A browser may come across child
pornography unintentionally (for example
via spam) but then decide to keep it. This
is an offence if it can be proved they formed
the intention to possess the material. In
the absence of a confession, this may be
shown by surrounding circumstances,
such as repeat visits to a site. Whether a
person is an accidental browser or not is
a question of fact.
Private fantasy
If a person has a private fantasy involving
sex with a child, no offence is committed. If
that fantasy is preserved as something more
than a thought, then an offence may be
involved. The representation of that fantasy
in text or digital format on a computer may
be sufficient to constitute the possession of
child pornography even if the offender has
no intention of sharing it with any other
person. The case of Lenny Lawson, referred
to above, is an example of a private fantasy
collection in video format.
For the offender engaged in private fantasy
the risk of exposure is low, but it could
occur in a number of ways: by tip-off from
someone else with access to the
computer or data storage device; in the
course of searching a computer for
evidence of other offences; when a
computer is being serviced; when a
computer is stolen; or even when a
computer has been accessed remotely
by a third party.
Trawler
Among trawlers there is little or no security
employed and minimal networking of
offenders. Taylor (1999) lists three
motivations. The sexually omnivorous user
is oriented to a range of sexually explicit
material of which child pornography is
simply a part but not the focus. The
sexually curious user has experimented
with child pornographic material but has
not pursued it. The libertarian is driven to
assert a claim to be free to access
whatever material they wish.
Non-secure collector
The non-secure collector purchases,
downloads or exchanges child
pornography from openly available sources
on the Internet or in chat rooms that do
not impose security barriers. Security
barriers include passwords, encryption or
the requirement to trade a minimum
number of images. There is a higher
degree of networking among non-secure
collectors than among trawlers.
Secure collector
In contrast, the secure collector uses
security barriers to collect pornography.
In addition to encryption, some groups
have an entry requirement that locks its
members into protecting each other—
each member is required to submit child
pornography images to join. The
W0nderland [sic] Club was one such
international child pornography ring
exposed in 1998. In order to join, members
had to submit 10,000 child pornography
images. Both open and private collectors
may be driven by the desire to amass a
4
Table 3: A typology of online child pornography offending
Type of Level of networking Nature of
involvement Features by offender Security abuse
Browser Response to spam, accidental hit on suspect site— Nil Nil Indirect
material knowingly saved
Private fantasy Conscious creation of online text or digital images Nil Nil Indirect
for private use
Trawler Actively seeking child pornography using openly Lo w Nil Indirect
available browsers
Non-secure collector Actively seeking material often through peer-to- High Nil Indirect
peer networks
Secure collector Actively seeking material but only through secure High Secure Indirect
networks. Collector syndrome and exchange as
an entry barrier
Groomer Cultivating an online relationship with one or more Varies—online Security depends Direct
children. The offender may or may not seek material contact with on child
in any of the above ways. Pornography may be individual children
used to facilitate abuse
Physical abuser Abusing a child who may have been introduced to Varies—physical Security depends Direct
the offender online. The offender may or may not contact with on child
seek material in any of the above ways. Pornography individual children
may be used to facilitate abuse
Producer Records own abuse or that of others (or induces Varies—may depend Security depends Direct
children to submit images of themselves) on whether becomes on child
a distributor
Distributor May distribute at any one of the above levels Varies Tends to be secure Indirect
A U S T R A L I A N C R I M I N O L O G Y O F I N S T I T U T E
collection. As a result, extremely large
numbers of images can be involved.
In a WA case, R v Jones [1999] WASCA
24, the court considered the size of a
collection as an aggravating feature on
sentencing: ‘the degradation of the children
is more serious because there is a larger
number of images involved.’ The defendant
had 162,000 images on a CD-ROM. The
appeal court took into account both the
number of children involved and the
number of images of each child as
aggravating features. The original two-year
suspended sentence was replaced with a
gaol term of 18 months.
In an English case the offender, Andrew
Tatum, was jailed for five years for
possessing 495,000 indecent images of
children. An indication of the obsessive
nature of his collecting is that the images
upon which his conviction was based
counted for only about five per cent of his
personal collection of more than 10 million
pornographic images (The Age 2004).
Online groomer
The online groomer is a person who has
initiated online contact with a child with the
intention of establishing a sexual relationship
involving cyber sex or physical sex. Child
pornography is used to ‘groom’ the child—it
is shown to the child to lower that child’s
inhibitions concerning sexual activity. The
proposed Commonwealth law referred to
above covers indecent material as well as
pornographic pictures and text when
communicated to a child for the purpose of
making it easier to procure that child for
sexual activity, or to make it more likely that
the child will engage in sexual activity
(Attorney-General’s Department 2004). The
same proposed law includes specific
offences of procuring a child for sexual
purposes and refers to sending
communications with the intent of facilitating
a meeting as a precursor to sexual activity.
The current Queensland legislation
contains an anti-grooming provision. The
first successful prosecution under this law
led to the sentencing of an offender to nine
months imprisonment in February 2004.
The 26-year-old had tried to procure a 13-
year-old girl for sex using an Internet chat
room. The ‘girl’ was in fact a police officer
involved in a sting operation (Townsend
5
2004). Western Australia is developing
similar legislation (Gallop 2004).
Physical abuser
Physical abusers are actively involved in
the abuse of children and use child
pornography to supplement their sexual
craving. The physical abuse may be
recorded for the personal use of the abuser
but is not intended to be further distributed.
In cases of this type, a charge of making
or possessing child pornography will
usually be incidental to a charge for the
physical abuse that has taken place.
Producer
The producer of child pornography is
involved in the physical abuse of children.
He or she provides images of that abuse
to other users of child pornography.
Distributor
The distributor of child pornography may
or may not have a sexual interest in child
pornography. For example, the Western
Australian case of R v W (2000) 27 SR
(WA) 148 involved a child who was
prosecuted for possessing child
pornography with the intent to sell it. The
offender had set up a web site offshore to
make money from advertisers. The content
of the web site included images and
textual references to child pornography.
The court held he was properly convicted.
Profiling offenders
To the categories listed above might be
added the child user or the youthful user who
pursues material reflecting their own level of
sexual maturity or exposure by adults to child
pornography. It has been reported that
children under 10 who have been exposed
to sexually exploitative material have
themselves become users of it (including
child pornography) and abusers of other
children (Stanley et al. 2003).
Research in the United States shows that
the typical person arrested for child
pornography offences is a Caucasian male
over the age of 26 years (Wolak et al.
2003). Little is known, however, about the
characteristics of offenders in Australia.
Even if there were consistent patterns of
gender and age among offenders, it would
be wrong to assume that offending fits a
homogenous profile. The typology
presented above shows that there are at
least eight different ways of offending, with
four of these having no direct contact with
children, three involving either online or
physical contact, and one where there
may or may not be contact with children.
There are also significant differences in
the level of security applied and the degree
of networking engaged in. More research
is required to explore the ways in which
these different types of offending are
interlinked. The most important research
issues to address are:
How can victims be identified to
prevent ongoing abuse or provide
support in relation to past abuse?
What effects are suffered by victims
portrayed in child pornography?
What is the extent of recidivism
among child pornography offenders?
What are the most effective ways of
rehabilitating a child pornography
offender?
Does the use of child pornography
follow a typical progress from the
marginally pornographic to the most
extreme images?
Is there any causal link between use
of child pornography and the physical
abuse of children?
Implications for law
enforcement
Police are devoting increasing attention and
resources to combat child pornography and
online sex offences. Investigations are
necessarily complex and time consuming
because they are often coordinated across
jurisdictions, they involve networks of
offenders using varying levels of security, and
an individual offender must be linked to the
misuse of a computer.
Perhaps the most important factor in law
enforcement is the reliance on networks by
many offenders. Concentrating on these
linkages is likely to help address the problem
of the proliferation of child pornography.
Stopping the physical abuse of children
requires an intensive investigation effort
concentrating on finding new material and
on cracking into the more secretive world of
individual and networked producers.
Police may use stings to locate individual
offenders. The greater long-term value in any
sting operation may lie in exploding the view
that the Internet is an anonymous domain in
which it is safe to offend. Such sting
operations may need to operate on a number
of levels to capture the various ways in which
offences may be committed online.
Police stings using false web sites target
unsophisticated users (Cyberspace
Research Unit 2003). By catching
trawlers and deterring those who may
be thinking of experimenting with child
pornography, an admittedly low level of
offending will be disrupted. The Australian
High Tech Crime Centre has joined the
Virtual Global Taskforce of police from
the UK, US and Canada to run such sting
operations and other coordinated
activities (The Guardian 2003).
Sting operations aimed at groomers are
more finely targeted at those who
represent a real threat in terms of
contacting children and acting out their
sexual impulses. Queensland police
have been able to operate with an anti-
grooming law in that state to locate and
prosecute groomers. We do not know
how prevalent grooming is, and stings of
this type may rely on the police officer
and the offender drawing on a ‘shared
fantasy’ of the ‘compliant and sexualised
child’ (Taylor & Quayle 2003).
Much more needs to be done to
understand the problem of online child
pornography. The literature on adults with
a sexual interest in children ‘fails to
accommodate behaviour that relates to
the new technologies’ (Taylor & Quayle
2003). Not only does this failure impede
the treatment of offenders, it also hampers
the ability to prioritise matters for
investigation and for prosecution. At this
stage, we can speak of associations
between risk factors and models of
offending behaviour. Drawing on the work
6
by Taylor and Quayle (2003), the following
are markers of serious online offending:
possessing new or recent images,
extreme images, or images
associated with text;
participating in an online community
of offenders;
trading in images; and
cataloguing of images.
Investigators need to consider the extent
to which an offender found with child
pornography may be involved in other levels
of offending. The development of predictive
indicators of involvement would therefore
be an important advance in combating
child pornography.
In the meantime, law enforcement agencies
must prioritise their investigation efforts. A
useful scale of priorities has been developed
in the UK in response to the flood of cases
from Operation Ore. The top priority is given
to cases involving convicted paedophiles and
those with access to children, such as
teachers and social workers. The second
priority is given to cases involving people in
positions of authority, for example police and
magistrates. The third is for suspects not
involved with children.
Conclusion
There is no doubting the importance of
combating online child pornography in
order to protect children from abuse. More
research is needed to properly understand
the problem, to fully assess the nature
and scale of offending, to identify and
protect victims and, ultimately, to ensure
that our approach is both effective and just.
Acknowledgment
This research was funded by the
Australian High Tech Crime Centre
(www.ahtcc.gov.au).
References
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sex offences Bill tabled. Canberra: Attorney-
General’s Department. www.ag.gov.au
Censorship Review Board 2000. Decision of 32nd
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pa_taylor.html
The Age 2004. Five years for UK man who
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Townsend I 2004. Qld Internet sex laws reveal
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sex crimes against minors: the response of law
enforcement. New Hampshire: National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children
Dr Tony Krone is a research analyst at the
Australian Institute of Criminology
General editor, Trends & issues in
crime and criminal justice series:
Dr Toni Makkai, Acting Director
Australian Institute of Criminology
GPO Box 2944 Canberra ACT 2601
Note: Trends & issues in crime and
criminal justice are refereed papers
The AIC is a statutory body with a Board
of Management comprised of federal,
state and territory government
representatives, administered under the
Criminology Research Act 1971
... Several studies show that the vast majority of all online offenders have contact with their peers (Beech et al. 2008;Merdian, et al., 2013;Shelton et al. 2016) and that access to the community of like-minded facilitates deviant behavior (Krone 2004). On the one hand, the "normalization" of sexual violence gives the perpetrator a sense that his behavior is more common than it actually is (de Young 1988). ...
... The motivations for CSAM use could roughly be organized into satisfaction of sexual attraction to children and into emotional purposes in the sense that CSAM allows the escape from negative feelings, such as loneliness, depression, anxiety, sexual frustration, or boredom (Babchishin et al. 2018;Merdian, et al., 2013; Morgan and Lambie 2019). The online era has also brought new motivations into picture, such as using CSAM out of curiosity or for collecting different types of grotesque materials (Hartman et al. 1984;Jenkins 2001;Krone 2004;Soldino et al. 2020). ...
... Much of it bases on O'Connell's categorization of different roles within online groups into (i) coordinators of the activities, (ii) reviewers of pedophilia-related outlets, (iii) generators of postings, (iv) enthusiasts of CSA, and (v) posters and traders of CSAM. Moreover, passive users and active opponents generate large groups (O'Connell 2000(O'Connell , 2001; see also Krone 2004), whereby opponents may rather fuel than hinder the activities of the groups, as facing a common enemy nurtures cohesion (O'Connell 2001). ...
Article
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Online communities on darknet contribute to sexual violence against children. They provide offender access to Child Sexual Abuse Material and to a group of peers that supports criminal activities. This article sheds light on online child sexual abusers and their justifications for Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). It describes different offender profiles and motivations for CSA, followed by a section on policing these offences. The article then lays out psychological models, such as cognitive distortions, that are used to understand pedophiles’ behavior. The discussion is complemented by direct citations from a darknet community of CSA offenders, showing that these models are not just theoretical considerations. The last part of the article concentrates on online communities of CSA offenders. It describes different types of members of such communities and explains how the communities support individual offenders and how they provide learning models that facilitate criminal behavior. The article concludes with a short reflection of its findings, including novel insights for investigators of these crimes and proposed venues for further research.
... Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is by far the most significant component of OCSE. Researchers found that perpetrators employ diverse tactics in compiling CSAM content by targeting specific sites, collecting CSAM material, joining CSAM dedicated online networks, sharing materials using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and chat rooms, and producing and distributing CSAM materials through dedicated P2P and chat room for financial gain (Beech et al., 2008;Briggs et al., 2011;Krone, 2004;Whitty & Young, 2016). To address the importance and severity of OCSE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) have provided great insight into the growing severity of these crimes. ...
... There are various behavioral and motivational classifications of online CSAM users (Beech et al., 2008;Briggs et al., 2011;DeHart et al., 2017;Krone, 2004;Seto, 2013;Sullivan & Beech, 2004;Tener et al., 2015;Webster et al., 2012). The specific terminology and classification may vary by researchers based on data and methods. ...
Article
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of technology-facilitated crimes against children worldwide has increased substantially and become one of the most serious crime problems. Due to these considerations, there is a lack of large-scale systematic reviews investigating Cybercrime in and of itself could be challenging to investigate in comparison to traditional ones due to the elusiveness of the cyber realm. Specifically, investigating internet crimes against children comes with specific challenges. These offenses target vulnerable children who are less likely to realize their victimization, lowering the probability of reporting to the proper authorities. With these obstacles in mind, this research study utilizes data information regarding the characteristics of online CSAM users and their practices to inform law enforcement, parents, and the public for preventative and strategic purposes. Furthermore, this study diagnoses the significant challenges of investigating technology-facilitated crimes against children by examining how the current criminal justice system responds to these incidents. The policy recommendations discussed offer a holistic lens for highlighting this critical issue and implementing practical and proactive training solutions for law enforcement and the public.
... predation and grooming, where a child is deceived and manipulated by an adult who poses as a friend or a romantic interest (Krone, 2004;O'Connell, 2003). Regardless of the relationship between the offender and the victim, sextortion may involve intentional and repeated harm through electronic devices, which meets many definitions of cyberbullying (Hinduja & Patchin, 2024a;Patchin & Hinduja, 2016). ...
Article
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Sextortion, the threatened dissemination of explicit, intimate, or embarrassing images of a sexual nature without consent, is an understudied problem. Despite a recent increase in reported incidents among adolescents in the United States, little is known about the nature and extent of sextortion among this population. The current research explores sextortion behaviors among a national sample of 4972 middle and high school students (mean age = 14.5) for the purpose of illuminating how many youth are targeted, and understanding various characteristics of the incident (including who was involved, what offenders wanted, what offenders did, and who targets told). About 5% of youth reported that they were victims of sextortion, primarily by people they knew. Many of those targeted did not disclose the incident to adults. Implications for future research and the law are discussed.
... For example, Merdian et al. (2014) explored whether I/CAM offenders progress to contact child sexual offending, or remain in the online sphere. In comparison, Krone (2004) considered I/CAM offenders as a unique cohort, and proposed typologies based on the roles and behaviours individuals exhibit online. In the absence of a clear differentiation between I/CAM and contact child sexual offenders, this case study continues to compare and contrast the two types of offending. ...
Article
Purpose Internet child abuse material (I/CAM) offences negatively affect children in our own communities and in the wider virtual world. This study aims to understand the differentiation between online (internet) and offline (contact) offenders. The development of the Estimated Risk for Internet Child Sexual Offending (ERICSO), a proposed instrument for I/CAM offenders, incorporated a case study component to test on a known offender before the tool is applied to a wider sample. Design/methodology/approach The case study approach provides a unique opportunity for researchers to consider reflections from an I/CAM offender. These insights provide unique perspectives on areas for further exploration, including suggestions for consideration in the assessment and treatment of I/CAM offenders. Findings Mr A is a male convicted of possessing I/CAM with previous convictions for contact child sexual offending. During the development of the ERICSO, Mr A provided commentary on proposed questions based on his experiences as an offender and his communications with other offenders. Mr A’s feedback was generally consistent with current research findings, with notable suggestions in recognising the importance of differentiating between fantasy/reality, violence/voyeurism and the role technology plays in I/CAM offences. These reflections will be considered in conjunction with ongoing development and validity studies of the ERICSO to contribute to the targeted assessment and risk-relevant treatment for I/CAM offenders. Originality/value The use of a case study in the development of a proposed assessment instrument provides a unique perspective to improve ecological validity.
Article
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Background: The darknet hosts an increasing number of hidden services dedicated to the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Given that by contributing CSAM to the forum members subject themselves to criminal prosecution, questions regarding the motivation for members contributing to darknet CSAM forums arise. Objective: Building on insights gained from research into clearnet communities, here we examine the extent to which social incentives generated by the online CSAM community may explain members' posting behavior on darknet CSAM forums. Participants and setting: We analyze digital forensic artifacts on the online behavior of members of a darknet CSAM forum that was shut down by law enforcement agencies in July 2015. Methods: We apply group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM), social network analysis, and mixed-effect survival models. Results: Applying GBTM three posting trajectories can be distinguished. Social network analyses finds the reply network to be more centralized than predicted by chance. Mixed-effect survival models show positive associations between the length of members' first post and the time since members' first registration on the forum and subsequent posting. Contrarily, the number of replies received appears to mitigate subsequent posting. Conclusions: Findings show posting activity on the forum to be concentrated in a minority of forum members who show posting trajectories that are both frequent and persistent. Results further suggest persistence in posting is motivated by social identity and, to a lesser extent, differential association processes.
Research
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Raport „Wykorzystywanie seksualne dzieci w cyberprzestrzeni. Analiza akt postępowań karnych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem roli biegłych powoływanych w tych postępowaniach. Cz. I. Teoretyczna”, to efekt wielomiesięcznej pracy. Jej celem było znalezienie odpowiedzi na pytanie jaki jest realny obraz zjawiska wykorzystywania seksualnego dzieci w cyberprzestrzeni w świetle postępowań karnych, realizowanych przez polskie organy ścigania i wymiar sprawiedliwości? Analiza akt w siedzibie IWS trwała od lipca do października 2022 r. Zespół badawczy przeanalizował 220 postępowań karnych z lat 2020-2022, udostępnionych przez 52 sądy z całego kraju. Zgodnie z przesłaniem publikacji, powstała ona w trosce o dzieci pokrzywdzone w wyniku wykorzystywania seksualnego w cyberprzestrzeni, w przypadku których krajowa i międzynarodowa reakcja okazała się nieskuteczna. Z tego powodu znalazło się w niej obszerne wyjaśnienie teoretycznych zagadnień, pozwalające na zaprezentowanie CZ. II. Praktycznej raportu we właściwym kontekście. Ta część zostanie w pierwszej kolejności przekazana przedstawicielom organów ścigania i wymiaru sprawiedliwości, z założeniem, że przedstawione w niej wyniki analizy będą przedmiotem dedykowanych szkoleń, warsztatów, a także dyskusji na temat możliwości podjęcia rekomendowanych w raporcie działań. W następnej kolejności planowane jest dotarcie – na podobnych zasadach – do środowiska biegłych z wymienionych w raporcie specjalności.
Chapter
This chapter considers the historical development of typologies of Internet sex offenders, and frameworks for measuring both their behaviour and the risk posed for future offending. What can be seen from the review of the extant literature is a growing knowledge about these crimes and the people who commit them that allows a differentiation of offending behaviours and motivations. This has led to a differentiation between those who use the Internet to enable sexual fantasy, through either the use and exchange of images or sexual engagement online with young people, and those whose use of technology is primarily motivated by a bid to commit contact offences against children in their more immediate social environment. What has yet to be fully understood is the potentially unique role that technology plays in these offences, both in setting the scene for the onset of the offence and in acting as a facilitator for future offending.
Article
Knowledge about the online bulletin board communities dedicated to child sexual exploitation (CSE) located on the Darkweb (Tor) has generally been limited to those that investigate and prosecute individuals participating in those sites, as accessing them and viewing the abuse material is a crime. This leaves many of those in the CSE field without a scientifically validated foundation of the behaviors typically demonstrated by members of these CSE online communities. The following research empirically examines topic popularity of one Darkweb CSE Tor hidden service that was seized by a federal law enforcement agency. Analyses reveal that some topics tend to be viewed significantly more often, and descriptors about specific sexual acts and the ages of children portrayed in the thread titles correlate with the frequency of viewing, approving and downloading of that material. Implications of these findings for professionals working in the CSE field will be discussed.
Book
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Child pornography, particularly that available via the Internet, has become a cause of huge social concern in recent years. This book examines the reality behind the often hysterical media coverage of the topic. Drawing on extensive new research findings, it examines how child pornography is used on the Internet and the social context in which such use occurs, and develops a model of offending behaviour to better help understand and deal with the processes of offending. Detailed case studies and offenders' own accounts are used to illustrate the processes involved in offending and treatment. The authors argue that we need to refine our ideas of offending, and that while severe deterrents need to be associated with possession of child pornography, a better understanding is needed of the links between possession and committing a contact offence. Only by improving our understanding of this complex and very controversial topic can we hope to deal effectively with offenders and with their child victims. This is a book which will become an essential read for anyone involved with offenders or victims from a psychological, judicial or social background.
Covert police team to hunt online predators Press release www.media statements.wa.gov Child pornography in the digital age
  • Gallop Gau Grant
  • A David
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Gallop G 2004. Covert police team to hunt online predators. Press release, 21 June 2004. www.media statements.wa.gov.au Grant A, David F & Grabosky P 1997. Child pornography in the digital age. In Transnational organised crime vol 3 no 4: 171–188
Inside the mind of a killer. Sydney: The Sun Herald 22
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Mitchell A 2004. Inside the mind of a killer. Sydney: The Sun Herald 22 February 2004: 55
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