Offenders and Society

Question 1

Fully describe the term “Paraphilia” and explain what bearing it has on Paedophilia

Answer 1

Paraphilia is a condition in which a person’s sexual arousal and gratification depend on fantasizing about and engaging in sexual behavior that is atypical and extreme. It can revolved around an object (i.e. children, animals) or act (i.e. pain).

Paedophilia is used for individuals who have a paraphilia towards children 13 or younger

Question 2

Describe the “10 years of madness” and what finished it?

Answer 2

1969 - 1984 decade of madness was production of hard core CSAM in name of pornography in magazines and movie. Repeal of pornography laws for adults.

Banned children acting in movies that ended the madness

Question 3

The internet revolutionized the world of child sex offenders. Discuss

Answer 3

Abuse has been common since the beginning of time. The internet has made it easier to connect and access content

Question 4

“By 1986, virtually all the traditional avenues for obtaining this kind of material had been firmly closed, raising the possibility of a thorough suppression of the whole child porn trade”. (Jenkins 2001). Discuss this statement in light of the advent of the internet

Answer 4

After 1986, offending became suppressed, with access of internet becoming accessible the content became more available. Offending was driven so far underground, that CP was traded online and on board. Camera, copying, video camera, internet all exploited quickly by offenders. Personal computer and storage devices allowed people to hide CSAM in plain sight rather than magazines/hidden under mattress

Question 5

The typology of online CEM users includes Expert, Closed Traders, Open Traders and Simple Viewers. Please draw the typology as it was presented to you including the labels on the horizontal and the Vertical and describe the nature offender of each level

Answer 5

Pyramid with simple viewers on bottom and Experts on top

Question 6

Explain Simple Viewers

Answer 6

most likely to be caught by police, use real address/name/credit cards to purchase, Finkelhor’s level 1, browse around with no set theory in mind, images available are exploitation

Question 7

Explain Open Traders

Answer 7

move into open trading area to get opportunity to trade, meet people online, more complicated technology (automate, P2P, webspiders to save webpages), become more involved in business, FTP servers, IRC, BBS, commercial exploitation website

Question 8

Explain Closed Traders

Answer 8

in order to gain access to better material, need to engage in communities, become members of closed groups, need to be moderated / require password to get in (yahoo groups, MSN groups, IRC channels, discord servers), relationships become important, 80% of work is done by 20% of people

Question 9

Explain Expert Traders

Answer 9

focused and determined, hardest to catch, small group, encouraging contact offending, technologically advanced, using services and applications to forward their aims, group can move quickly from compromised server to a new one if necessary

Question 10

Describe why Stranger Danger is no longer a suitable public policy prevention strategy in relation to Child Sexual Abuse awareness in both the offline and online worlds

Answer 10

85% of offending happens within the home

Question 11

The internet revolutionized the world for child sex offenders. Discuss the Tripe A engine

Answer 11

Triple A engine (Accessible, Affordable, Anonymous)

Connected offenders to like minded individuals. Went online for justification, access to children/grooming, access to material

Question 12

List and briefly outline the 4 pre-conditions that must exist before child sexual abuse can take place as outlined in 1984 by Dr. David Finkelhor

Answer 12

• Motivation to Abuse: The potential offender must have a desire to sexually abuse a child, which can stem from a variety of factors including emotional congruence, sexual arousal, or other motivations unrelated to sexual gratification.
• Overcoming Internal Inhibitions: The individual must overcome any internal barriers or inhibitions against committing such an act. This precondition recognizes that many individuals might have a sexual interest in children but refrain from acting on these urges due to moral or ethical considerations.
  -Overcoming External Inhibitions: The potential offender must be in a situation where external factors that might prevent the abuse (such as the presence of others or fear of getting caught) are absent or have been overcome.
  -Overcoming the Child’s Resistance: The offender must overcome any resistance from the child, whether through coercion, manipulation, trust, authority, or other means.

Question 13

List the 5 stages of grooming

Answer 13

-Communication process - understanding between people, communication put in place by criminal is to be in charge
- Strategy - plan is put into place by SO/Groomer, the plan is to achieve access to their needs fulfilment
- Desensitization - make someone think about something in a different way / feel differently about something, is aided by showing child CSAM to desensitize them
- Information acquisition/Intel - each part of plan informs the next, all rolling downhill to needs fulfillment, could be identified from social media page or chat rooms rather than communication process
- Targeted victims - victims are chosen for specific reason, grooms can take place with whole community
- Aim - needs fulfillment

Question 14

List the 5 stages of grooming per Rachel O’Connell (2000)

Answer 14

Friendship forming
Relationship forming
Risk assessment
Exclusivity
Sexual

Question 15

Describe how Coopers “triple A engine” can be applied to online Internet offenders

Answer 15

Accessibility: Accessibility refers to the ease with which individuals can access materials or engage in behaviors related to online sexual offending.
Anonymity: Anonymity describes the ability of individuals to conceal their identities or activities while engaging in online sexual offending behaviors.
Affordability: Affordability refers to the low cost or minimal resources required for individuals to engage in online sexual offending.

Question 16

Describe how this Triple A engine can be used for prevention

Answer 16

This framework can inform efforts to develop prevention strategies, enhance law enforcement responses, and support interventions aimed at reducing harm and protecting children from online sexual offending.

If you remove one A, offending becomes significantly more difficult

Question 17

What is a situational offender

Answer 17

A situational offender is someone who commits sexual offenses against children opportunistically or impulsively, often in response to situational factors such as environmental cues, stressors, or opportunities. These offenders may not have a specific preference for children as targets, but rather exploit the circumstances presented to them. Situational offenders may not exhibit a persistent pattern of offending and may be less likely to engage in grooming behaviors.

Question 18

What is difference between situational and preferential

Answer 18

It’s important to note that these categories are not mutually exclusive, and offenders may exhibit characteristics of both situational and preferential offenders to varying degrees. Additionally, advancements in research and understanding of sexual offending behaviors may lead to refinements or modifications of these concepts over time”

Question 19

What is a preferential offender

Answer 19

A preferential offender has a distinct and persistent sexual preference for children as targets of their sexual fantasies and behaviors. These offenders are often characterized by a consistent pattern of behavior over time, with a clear preference for children as sexual partners or objects of sexual desire. Preferential offenders may engage in grooming tactics to manipulate and exploit children, and they are more likely to seek out opportunities to offend rather than acting impulsively.

Question 20

List the “4 D’s” that describes the effect of the internet on those who were NOT predisposed to child sex offending

Answer 20

Discover, Decide, Deepen, Destroy

Discover: Individual who clicks on link has curiosity about CSAM, preconditioned to be interested in CSAM. Young man have doubts about sexuality, uses resources on internet to see what they like, resources are not controlled on the internet, so he may meet people online who may groom him / he might be subject to CSA
Decide: SO’s will need to decide if they’re going to ignore warning bells about their interests / actions. Some decide to destroyed collections or deepen collection
Deepen: Must begin to offend in earnest. Move on from reading social networking pages to actually engaging. Start collecting CSAM. Deepen their involvement and join communities with like minded people
Destroy: More time spent online, become obsessed with material. Begin to destroy their former lives and only engage with like minded people. Start to spend more time online, leave behind previous friends, move away from normal world and move into warped world of CSAO. May crossover and become contact offender (actually engage with activity in person with child) “

Question 21

List the “4 S’s that describes the effect of the internet on those who were predisposed to child sex offending and fully describe two of them

Answer 21

Start, Sustain, Secour (help), Satisfaction

Start: This refers to the initiation of criminal behavior. It could be the moment when an individual commits their first offense or engages in activities that lead to criminality. Factors such as environmental influences, personal circumstances, and peer associations play a role in this initial step.

Sustain: Once criminal behavior begins, it often continues over time. The sustaining phase involves repeated engagement in criminal acts. Factors like reinforcement (positive or negative), social networks, and personal motivations contribute to the persistence of criminal behavior.

Secours: The term “secours” means support / help / assistance. In the context of criminality, it could refer to the external factors that enable or facilitate criminal behavior. These might include access to resources, accomplices, or opportunities that aid in sustaining criminal acts.

Satisfaction: Criminal behavior can provide a sense of satisfaction to the offender. This satisfaction may arise from various factors, such as financial gain, power, revenge, or thrill-seeking. The emotional or psychological rewards associated with criminal acts can reinforce the behavior”

Question 22

Sex Offenders use the Internet for three main reasons, list the three ways that child sex offenders use the Internet

Answer 22

-Justification – confirmation and validation of beliefs, Access to information/ advocacy and guidance (both aspects, both efforts to avoid re-offending and to be better at offending and avoiding detection)
-Grooming / Access to children - sourcing/targeting/working of children online with ultimate goal of SA
-CSAM/CE material - possession, distribution, manufacturing of CE material”

Question 23

Female sex offenders get it easy when they get to court, discuss

Answer 23

-Female SO’s take advantage of society unable to comprehend that they can be offenders
- Chivalry theory - Must be a medical or psychological issue because a woman committed this type of crime
- Women are viewed as victims
-Women will admit offense but unlikely to plead guilty in court, because defense will base itself on alcohol/abuse/treated as victims

Question 24

Grooming consists of a number of distinct elements related to sex offenders and their attempts to abuse children. De-construct this definition and describe how the internet facilitates each element and suggest specific technologies and/or file types that might be used to achieve the “need fulfilment”

Answer 24

• Communication process - understanding between people, communication put in place by criminal is to be in charge, one person to many or many people to one person
  -Strategy - plan is put into place by SO/Groomer, the plan is to achieve access to their needs fulfilment
  -Desensitization - make someone think about something in a different way / feel differently about something, is aided by showing child CSAM to desensitize them
  -Information acquisition/Intel - each part of plan informs the next, all rolling downhill to needs fulfillment, could be identified from social media page or chat rooms rather than communication process
  -Targeted victims - victims are chosen for specific reason, grooms can take place with whole community
  -Aim - needs fulfillment”

Question 25

List the 5 phases that an offender will go through during a groom (Rachael O’Connell)

Answer 25

-Friendship forming
-Relationship forming
-Risk assessment
-Exclusivity
-sexual

Question 26

Describe how the Internet has made the process of grooming easier

Answer 26

-Accessible
-Internet aids to help offender be careful
-Targeting victims is easier
-Keeping a distance is easier
-SO will only make move if it is secure
-Allows for careful planning
-Can set up meet when feels everything is safe

Question 27

Describe how the Internet has made the grooming process simpler for the offender

Answer 27

-Access to various children, so if uninterested or unavailable can pivot to new ones
-Can be grooming a number of children at once”

Question 28

Outline the elements of social networking that facilitate grooming

Answer 28

• Engage in high rates of purposive sexual behavior with young people
• Opportunities to lie, deceive
• Social media actively encourages sharing of information that becomes valuable intelligence for the offender
• Simultaneously contact hundreds of potential victims and drop children who do not respond
• Technology allows for taking / developing and sharing of photos/media
  -Children are so influenced by influencers, see sexuality within those influencers, allows ease of manipulation of identity

Question 29

Describe why “Stanger Danger “ is no longer a suitable public policy prevention strategy in relation to Child Sexual Abuse awareness in both the offline and online worlds?

Answer 29

Looking for the fact that 86% of child sexual abuse takes place within the home or family circle for example with “friends” and I’m also looking for the fact that in the online world the term “friend” has changed.

Question 30

What is Grooms definition of Grooming

Answer 30

Grooming is a communication process by which a perpetrator applies affinity-seeking strategies, while simultaneously engaging in sexual desensitization and information acquisition about targeted victims in order to develop relationships that result in need fulfillment. Harms (2007).