413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Table 9.1 Child Pornography Offending Typology
Type of
involvement
Browser
Private Fantasy
Trawler
Non-secure
collector
Secure collector
Groomer
Physical abuser
Producer
Features
Level of
networking by
offender
Security
Nature
of abuse
Response to spam, accidental hit on suspect site–
material knowingly saved Nil Nil Indirect
Conscious creation of online text or digital images
for private use Nil Nil Indirect
Actively seeking child pornography using openly
available browsers Low Nil Indirect
Actively seeking material often through peer-topeer
networks High Nil Indirect
Actively seeking material but only through secure
networks. Collector syndrome and exchange as an
entry barrier High Secure Indirect
Cultivating an online relationship with one or more
children. The offender may or may not seek
material in any of the above ways. Pornography may
be used to facilitate abuse
Abusing a child who may have been introduced to
the offender online. The offender may or may not
seek material in any of the above ways. Pornography
may be used to facilitate abuse
Records own abuse or that of other (or induces
children to submit images of themselves)
Varies—online
contact with
individual children
Varies—physical
contact with
individual children
Varies—may depend
on whether becomes
a distributor
Distributor May distribute at any one of the above levels Varies
Source: Krone 2004.
Security
depends
on child
Security
depends
on child
Security
depends
on child
Tends to
be secure
Direct
Direct
Direct
Indirect
Since the Internet is a relatively new phenomenon, a number of studies have endeavored to discern
behavioral and psychological differences between online (non-contact) sex offenders and offline (contact)
sex offenders. Babchishin, Hanson, and Hermann’s (2011) meta-analysis of 27 studies found that online
offenders were younger than offline offenders, less likely to be a racial minority, and less likely to have a
criminal history. Both online and offline offenders experienced more physical and sexual abuse than the
general population. Offline offenders had lower rates of victim empathy and more cognitive distortions,
but also lower rates of sexual deviancy. The authors suggest that higher levels of self-control and less
impulsivity may explain why online offenders do not commit contact crimes.
Other studies have attempted to determine the likelihood of non-contact offenders “crossing over” to
commit contact crimes. Viewing child abuse images could normalize this behavior and therefore lead to
contact offending, or could potentially prevent contact offending by acting as a substitute (Quayle and
Taylor 2002). Wortley and Smallbone (2012) point to the increase in child pornography accessibility and
decrease in sexual abuse rates to illustrate that Internet child pornography does not lead to contact
crimes.
Seto, Hanson, and Babchishin (2011) conducted a meta-analysis of nine studies, which found a recidivism
rate of only 4.6 percent for online sex offenders, with 2 percent committing a contact sexual offense over a
1.5 to 6 year follow-up period. They also analyzed 21 studies and found that 12 percent of online offenders
have an officially documented contact sexual offense. However, six studies with self-report data indicated
a high number of undocumented crimes, as 55 percent of offenders disclosed additional offenses. Even
when excluding Bourke and Hernandez’s (2009) Butner study, whose high rates of self-reported data have
been questioned (Aviv 2013), the rate remains at around 50 percent.
While numerous studies rely on administrative data or interviews with law enforcement officers and
clinical staff, Quayle and Taylor (2002) conducted interviews with 13 men convicted of downloading child
pornography. Their study sheds light on the function of child pornography and identifies six main ways
that offenders describe using child pornography: for sexual arousal, as collectibles, to facilitate social
relationships, to avoid real life, as therapy, and as inevitably linked with the Internet.
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