Cyber-Sex Offences: Patterns, Prevention and Protection (From Managing High-Risk Sex Offenders in the Community: Risk Management, Treatment and Social Responsibility, P 229-248, 2010, Karen Harrison, ed. - See NCJ-230796)

• NCJ Number: 230808
• Author(s): Majid Yar
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study examined the scope, scale, and patterns of online sex offending against children; reviews the legal innovations developed to counter such offending; and examined the new apparatus of child protection and crime prevention and detection now in place, along with a critical evaluation of its effectiveness.

Abstract

The chapter first considers the complexities of assessing what constitutes child pornography on the Internet and its prevalence. The features of laws enacted by various countries to address child pornography both online and offline are also reviewed. The discussion of the issue of child pornography is followed by a section on online interactions between sex offenders and children. Online child sex abuse is divided into that which remains "virtual" (restricted to communicative abuses committed via the Internet) and that which serves as a "grooming" method for later actual physical contact and abuse. The chapter then turns to issues of policing and preventing online sex offenses against children. These efforts have involved international cooperation among law enforcement agencies, the involvement of Internet service providers (ISPs), the cooperation of the online adult pornography industry, and hotlines for reporting child pornography identified on the Internet. Prevention strategies have included an increased emphasis on educating children and youth about the potential dangers of encountering sexual predators online; parents' use of software that blocks children's access to unsuitable sites and images; and ISP monitoring and management of the use of their Internet sites, in some cases barring registered sex offenders from using social networking sites. Although these policing and prevention efforts are welcome, the chapter identifies a number of significant problems and challenges in these efforts. These include unaccountable, ill-advised private action; the use of intrusive, illegal means in obtaining evidence; and failure to use rehabilitative and educational as well as punitive responses in addressing the complex issues involved. 43 references