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Background: The increase in online enticement has led to law enforcement agencies engaging in more proactive policing through undercover chat sting operations., Objective: We aimed to identify the topics and communication strategies triggering suspicion in chats between law enforcement officers and offenders and why those topics do not result in suspicion in victim-offender conversations., Methods: We conducted a thematic analysis identifying: (1) how LEOs trigger suspicion, (2) how offenders communicate suspicion, (3) how LEOs attempt recovery from suspicion, and (4) how these triggers were present but did not trigger suspicion in victim-offender chats. We examined 20 LEO-offender chats and 20 victim-offender chats from US ICAC task forces., Results: We identified four themes that triggered suspicion: risk assessment by the LEO's persona, LEO avoidance measures, details related to the offense and evidence, and proof of identity of chat participants. Offender responses to triggers revealed three themes: discomfort navigating boundaries and uncertainty, risk identification, and risk mitigation. Themes for the LEO's responses to suspicion included: risk assessment for chatters, issues with technology, appeasement, and negative emotional reactions. Finally, juxtaposing triggers onto minor-offender chats yielded four themes: explicit boundary setting, victim risk assessment, deep relationship forming and disclosures, and technology issues., Conclusion: This study has implications for law enforcement agencies seeking to reduce suspicion and risk assessment by offenders during internet sting operations., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Recent research argues for a formalized hybrid risk assessment model that combines the current online child sex abuse risk measures with digital forensics artifacts., Objective: We conducted a feasibility study as an initial step toward formalizing the hybrid risk assessment model by identifying high-level digital forensic artifacts that have the potential to be valid and reliable indicators of risk, with a focus on CPORT Items 5, 6, and 7., Data: Law enforcement investigators from a High Tech Crime Unit (HTCU) randomly selected seven closed cases; selection criteria included: male offender over 18, mobile device, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offense, and 2019-2023 index offense. Investigation details related to probable cause, final charges, conviction, and offender risk were not disclosed. Statistical information (f, %) for the following digital forensics artifacts was examined: 1) pornography collection (e.g., % of media, content type, gender ratio) and 2) evidence of networking/grooming and other problematic online activities (e.g., number of native messages vs. application messages; type of installed apps)., Method: The analysis predicted whether the offender was a CSAM-only or dual offender and if our findings agreed with the level of risk for reoffending suggested by CPORT Items 5, 6, and 7. Results were shared with the HTCU and scored for accuracy., Results: The hybrid model was accurate in 6 of 7 cases., Conclusion: We conclude a hybrid model is feasible, and the findings illustrate the importance of analyzing app artifacts for context. Study limitations and future research recommendations are discussed., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The grooming process involves sexually explicit images or videos sent by the offender to the minor. Although offenders may try to conceal their identity, these sexts often include hand, knuckle, and nail bed imagery., Objective: We present a novel biometric hand verification tool designed to identify online child sexual exploitation offenders from images or videos based on biometric/forensic features extracted from hand regions. The system can match and authenticate hand component imagery against a constrained custody suite reference of a known subject by employing advanced image processing and machine learning techniques., Data: We conducted experiments on two hand datasets: Purdue University and Hong Kong. In particular, the Purdue dataset collected for this study allowed us to evaluate the system performance on various parameters, with specific emphasis on camera distance and orientation., Methods: To explore the performance and reliability of the biometric verification models, we considered several parameters, including hand orientation, distance from the camera, single or multiple fingers, architecture of the models, and performance loss functions., Results: Results showed the best performance for pictures sampled from the same database and with the same image capture conditions., Conclusion: The authors conclude the biometric hand verification tool offers a robust solution that will operationally impact law enforcement by allowing agencies to investigate and identify online child sexual exploitation offenders more effectively. We highlight the strength of the system and the current limitations., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Differences exist between contact and noncontact-driven online child sexual abuse offenders; however, there is still a notable lack of empirical studies with police samples from non-English speaking countries, including Spain., Objective: We address this gap by analyzing the criminological characteristics of online child sexual grooming (OCSG) suspected offenders from de-identified law enforcement investigations in Spain., Participants and Setting: We anonymously coded data provided by Spanish law enforcement agencies from 257 OCSG cases (i.e., unique chat logs between a suspect and minor) extracted from 98 police reports with index investigation years from 2008 to 2021. A total of 101,391 messages were analyzed., Methods: Three distinct datasets were created: 257 OCSG cases, 120 unique suspects (79 online-focused, 41 contact-driven), and 234 unique victims. Each dataset focused on different criminological variables for analysis, such as grooming strategy, motivation, and victim high-risk behaviors., Results: There were no significant differences between suspects on gender, age, or criminal offense history. Contact-driven suspects were more likely to use positive rapport (ɸ = 0.18), send unprompted sexually explicit images of themselves (ɸ = 0.19), and offer something in exchange (ɸ = 0.25). Victims of contact-driven individuals were more likely to be male (ɸ = 0.52) and offer something in exchange for sex or sexually explicit images (ɸ = 0.18). Victims of online-focused individuals were more likely to be younger (r = 0.26)., Conclusions: These findings suggest criminological differences in the online grooming strategies between contact-driven and online-focused suspected offenders in Spain., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Researchers have studied the online sexual grooming of minors extensively since the early 2000s. However, the grooming process is neither new nor restricted to digital media. While grooming and child sexual abuse existed long before the Internet, the advent of the Internet has resulted in more ways in which offenders can interact with candidate victims including offline-only, online-only, and a mix of offline and online., Objective: In this study, we conducted a scoping review of grooming strategies both pre- and post-Internet. Our goal was to enumerate strategies analyzed in both time periods, provide similarities and differences, and discuss how changing datasets and technology have impacted the grooming process in both online and offline environments., Methods: We performed a scoping review of peer-reviewed journal articles from 1970 to 2020 within PubMed, Medline, PsychInfo, and ERIC. This resulted in 19,679 unique articles. Titles and abstracts were screened resulting in 266 articles which were then read in full, resulting in 93 papers which qualified based on inclusion criteria., Results: Grooming strategies identified pre-Internet included: enticements, coercion, isolation, substance abuse, gradual sexualization, and secrecy. In comparison, the strategies identified post-Internet were: enticements, risk assessment, trust, sexualization, fantasy, secrecy, isolation, meeting, media progression, deception, coercion, substance use as a tool, authority, and repetition., Conclusions: While grooming strategies overlapped pre and post-Internet, the timing and scope of concepts differed. Additionally, grooming offline began to incorporate technology post-Internet which functioned to increase accessibility and isolation of the victim in a similar manner to online grooming., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Lack of studies on CP offenders from non-English speaking countries motivated the analysis of the profile of adult men arrested in Spain for such crimes (N = 347)., Objective: The current study examined differences between groups of CP users according to their criminal history (i.e., CP-only offenders, CP offenders with other nonviolent or non-sexually violent crimes, and dual offenders)., Methods: Analyses of case investigation files were performed across seven key areas: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) criminological data, (3) characteristics of index CP offending, (4) characteristics of CP collections, (5) access to children, (6) indication of pedophilic or hebephilic interests, and (7) recidivism outcomes., Results: CP-only offenders presented with fewer prior criminal records and lower general (6.7%) and violent (1.1%) recidivism rates. They were also less likely to be arrested for CP production, although they had greater access to children living in their residence. CP offenders with other nonviolent or non-sexually violent crimes exhibited characteristics on a continuum between the other two groups. Dual offenders were more likely to have prior criminal records for sexual offenses and higher sexual recidivism rates (16.7%). 55.6% had produced their own CP material, and they were more likely to have content depicting boys. They were also more likely to admit or be diagnosed with pedophilic/hebephilic interests, and they also had the largest proportion of legal child-related content (72.2%)., Conclusions: Authors conclude there are significant differences between dual and CP-only offenders which suggests a need for specialized treatment and risk assessment tools., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This exploratory study is the first to identify content differences between youths' online chats with contact child sex offenders (CCSOs; seek to meet with youths) and those with fantasy child sex offenders (FCSOs; do not meet with youths) using statistical discourse analysis (SDA). Past studies suggest that CCSOs share their experiences and emotions with targeted youths (self-disclosure grooming tactic) and encourage them to reciprocate, to build trust and closer relationships through a cycle of self-disclosures. In this study, we examined 36,029 words in 4,353 messages within 107 anonymized online chat sessions by 21 people, specifically 12 youths and 9 arrested sex offenders (5 CCSOs and 4 FCSOs), using SDA. Results showed that CCSOs were more likely than FCSOs to write online messages with specific words (first person pronouns, negative emotions and positive emotions), suggesting the use of self-disclosure grooming tactics. CCSO's self-disclosure messages elicited corresponding self-disclosure messages from their targeted youths. These results suggest that CCSOs use grooming tactics that help engender youths' trust to meet in the physical world, but FCSOs do not., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)