Child sexual exploitation material offenses: differences in individual and case characteristics based on how they came to attention of police

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is global demand for methods to prioritize child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) investigations. Previous research comparing online CSEM offenders based on how they were detected found potentially meaningful differences in offense and individual characteristics, including factors relating to targets for prioritization, such as risk of other offending. The present study builds on this work by providing an in-depth comparison of the individual characteristics and offending behavior of a sample of 336 men convicted of CSEM offenses, divided into four detection groups: (1) those reported by others; (2) those identified during another police investigation; (3) those identified due to their online web purchases or downloads, and; (4) those detected during proactive online police investigations. As a group, the riskiest individuals were detected by reports of others and during other investigations (Cohen’s f = .25). This finding suggests that it is important to search for CSEM when doing other police investigations, particularly those involving allegations of sexual offending or crimes against children. Risk relevant information may also assist prioritization, though it will depend on the information available at different points in an investigation and may require the use of professional judgement in approximating evidence of robust risk factors.