Use of child sexual abuse material is often associated with other forms of violence, say researchers
Individuals charged with sexual offenses against adults are also at high risk of committing crimes against children. Up to 40% of these individuals reported interest in sexual violence against children aged 0–3 years, and 80% have been charged with other types of violent crimes. Alarmingly, many continue to seek child sexual abuse material and attempt to contact children despite having been previously charged.
These are findings from a recently published in Child Abuse & Neglect. The unique international study where researchers gathered data from sexual offenders operating on the dark web. The goal was to gain deeper insight into the methods, patterns and trends of online sexual violence against children. The study was conducted as part of the Knowledge to Protect (2KNOW) project led by Protect Children, in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland and the Council of the Baltic Sea States.
Support for criminal investigations
The researchers analyzed 2,384 anonymous responses gathered from users of the dark web. Most respondents were young men aged 18–34 who sought child sexual abuse material involving girls.
The respondents were non-incarcerated individuals actively seeking child sexual abuse material via search engines available on the dark web. The study compared individuals who had been charged with a sexual offense vs. those who had not been charged, finding significant differences in their behaviors and motivations.
"Those who had been charged with a sexual offense had, significantly more often than those who had not been charged, a background in other violent crimes as well, and they were more often in contact with children, or sought to lure children into contact with them. These individuals also expressed the keenest interested in child sexual abuse material involving very young children," says University Lecturer and Forensic Psychologist Hanna Lahtinen of the University of Eastern Finland.
The dark web is an increasingly prominent platform for distributing child sexual abuse material. According to the latest estimates, more than 300 million children fall victim to online sexual violence every year. Most users of this material go unnoticed by law enforcement, and little is known about users of child sexual abuse material who have not been convicted.
300 million children per year!!!! There are about 2.5 bn children alive today. 300 mn X 18 years (one generation of childhood) = 5.4 bn - more than twice as many children as there are in the world. And that is just online child sex abuse.
"We were particularly surprised by the fact that many respondents reported continuing their criminal activity despite being charged. Previous studies have estimated recidivism to be low."
I suspect those previous studies were conducted by psychologists involved in treating pedophiles and who had a vested interest in making themselves look good.
The new findings emerging from the study, including those related to offenders' motivations, are useful for planning interventions and preventive measures, as well as for criminal investigations.
Multiple underlying factors—researchers also identify prevention methods
The findings showed that a common factor underlying these crimes is an individual's sexual interest in children. However, other factors also play a role, such as issues with emotional regulation, high sex drive and a thrill-seeking nature. Factors that lower the threshold for committing these crimes include adverse childhood experiences, substance abuse and desensitization to adult pornography.
"This type of criminal behavior is also facilitated by the rapid development of technology, the anonymity provided by the internet and easy access to content depicting sexual violence," Lahtinen notes.
Individuals seeking material depicting sexual violence against children identified effective crime prevention methods, including intervention programs and warning messages that increase the fear of getting caught and facing serious legal consequences.
An effective model of peer support for parents of children who have fallen victim to sexual violence
Another objective of the two-year 2KNOW project was to develop and offer a model of peer support for parents and guardians whose child has fallen victim to sexual violence.
The model was prepared based on information and experiences gathered from Protect Children's You Are Enough peer support groups. Previously, many parents have been left completely alone to deal with a burdensome situation, unable to share their stressful experiences with anyone.
"Many have tried to support both their child and other family members without receiving any support themselves. Parents found peer support, especially that received in online groups, valuable. As a result, they were also better able to support their child," says Nina Vaaranen-Valkonen, Executive Director of Protect Children.
Drawing on the positive experiences gained, these support groups will be offered to parents both in Finland and internationally. Furthermore, Protect Children's guides for parents will be translated into different languages. The goal of the peer support model, led by professionals, and the guides, is not only to support parents but also to provide information and guidance, and to support the child's recovery process while also promoting digital safety skills.
More than 18,000 respondents already
Held in the European Parliament, the 2KNOW project's final conference attracted significant interest, with over 350 participants from 36 countries attending. The conference program also included speeches by decision-makers. The keynote speaker, the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen promised in her speech to promote children's digital safety across the EU.
The survey related to the study is still open on the dark web, having attracted over 18,400 responses so far. The survey is available in a total of 15 different languages.
Vaaranen-Valkonen notes that determined efforts to protect children continue and are strengthened by research.
"We have ensured that the project's findings are being implemented in practice. Our newest research project will continue to focus on offenders, delving deeper into the role of technology in online sexual crimes against children."
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'Loophole' in law on messaging apps leaves children vulnerable to sexual abuse, says NSPCC
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood says the number of crimes being recorded is "deeply alarming" and urges the government to toughen up incoming safeguards in the Online Safety Act.
Nearly 39,000 child sex abuse image crimes were recorded last year - with an "unacceptable loophole" in the law leaving children vulnerable on messaging services, says the NSPCC.
Snapchat was the app that came up most often in the 7,300 cases where a platform was recorded, according to the children's charity.
The NSPCC says it believes the secrecy offered by one-to-one messaging services is being used "to harm children and go undetected".
It says Home Office data shows more than 38,685 such crimes were logged in England and Wales in 2023/24 - equivalent to more than 100 a day.
Police made a note of the service used in just over 7,300 of those cases. Of those, 50% took place on Snapchat, 11% on Instagram, 7% on Facebook and 6% on WhatsApp.
The NSPCC is among several charities, including Barnardo's, who have written to the home secretary and technology secretary urging them to strengthen the implementation of the Online Safety Act.
Ofcom is in charge of enforcing the new law, but charities say its recent code of practice contains a loophole as it only requires direct messaging services to remove content if it's "technically feasible".
The NSPCC also wants the platforms themselves to ensure they aren't a "safe haven" for abusers.
It says those that use end-to-end encryption - where the company is unable to view the messages - can be "blinded to child sexual abuse material being shared".
An illustration of the type of crime taking place can be seen in the experience of one 13-year-old victim cited by the NSPCC.
She said: "I sent nude pics and videos to a stranger I met on Snapchat. I think he's in his thirties. I don't know what to do next.
"I told him I didn't want to send him any more pictures and he started threatening me, telling me that he'll post the pictures online."
NSPCC chief executive Chris Sherwood called the situation "deeply alarming" and called on the government to take urgent action.
"Having separate rules for private messaging services lets tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place. This enables crimes to continue to flourish on their platforms even though we now have the Online Safety Act," he said.
The act was passed in 2023 and requires social media firms to reduce illegal and harmful content, but its protections are only just taking effect through Ofcom codes of practice.
Last month, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a charity that helps remove child abuse material, also said the codes gave platforms a "blatant get-out clause".
However, an Ofcom spokesperson said it anticipated most services would be able to remove harmful content.
"The law says that measures in our codes of practice must be technically feasible," said a statement.
"However, we expect the vast majority of platforms will be able to take content down and we will hold them to account if they don't.
"There'll be measures all platforms will need to take to protect children, such as reviewing child sexual abuse material when they become aware of it and reporting it to law enforcement."
A government spokesperson said: "Child sexual exploitation and abuse is despicable, and has a devastating impact on victims. UK law is clear: child sexual abuse is illegal and social media is no exception, so companies must ensure criminal activity cannot proliferate on their sites.
"The government is committed to the robust implementation of the Online Safety Act to ensure it delivers on its aim to make the UK the safest place online for children.
"We have already introduced four new laws to crack down on child sexual abuse online, but tech company design choices cannot be used as an excuse not to root out these heinous crimes - and we will not hesitate to go further to protect children from vile online predators."
Snapchat told Sky News the report does not reflect the seriousness of its efforts to counter this kind of abuse and that when it is made aware of sexually exploitative content on its platforms, "we remove it, lock the violating account, and report to authorities".
"Snapchat is designed to make it difficult for predators to find and interact with young people and has extra safeguards in place to help prevent strangers from connecting with teens," a Snapchat spokesperson said.
"Our Family Centre also allows parents to see who their teens are friends with and talking to on Snapchat.
"We work with expert NGOs, and industry peers to jointly attack these problems and don't believe the methodology used in this report reflects the seriousness of our collective commitment and efforts," they said.
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Sheep-Skinned Wolves > The Emma Fretton Story - Now in Kindle
Available in Kindle format on May 4th, 2024
- FREE for Kindle Unlimited members
Over the past few years I have had the privilege of writing Emma's Story with her even while she lives in Australia and I in Canada. It's a true story and a disturbing one on many levels. But it is also just one of millions of such stories that are not being told and are being largely ignored by governments, the press, and even churches around the world.
Gary Wm. Myers
Sheep-Skinned Wolves: The Emma Fretton Story
by Emma Joy Fretton (Author), Gary Wm Myers (Author)
Emma excitedly enters primary school anticipating good things, but almost immediately is physically, sexually, and emotionally abused by her paedophile teacher. She's courageous enough to report the horrible abuse, but the school administration's response was frustrating and infuriating, making promises that were never kept and even lying to her face. Inexplicably, the school, a Christian school, allows the deviate teacher to continue terrifying and torturing Emma for several years. What that does to Emma is devastating on so many levels. How could this have happened in a Christian school?
Child sexual abuse is far more prevalent than most people would believe, affecting as many as 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys. The effects are almost always life-long and very negative. In the Appendix, Gary, the co-author, describes these effects as well as signs to help identify when sexual abuse is occurring to your child. There is a wealth of other information on paedophilia learned from more than 6,500 blog posts over the past 12 years.
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