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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.)

The current study examined the validity of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) in a sample of 304 men arrested in Spain for child pornography (CP) offenses, distinguishing between CP-exclusive offenders ( n = 255) and CP offenders with other criminal involvement ( n = 49). In our 5-year fixed follow-up analysis, we observed a 2.3% sexual recidivism rate for the whole sample (2.0% new CP offenses, 0.3% new contact sexual offenses). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses detected some relative predictive ability of the CPORT for CP recidivism outcomes when the Correlates of Admission of Sexual Interest in Children (CASIC) was used to replace missing CPORT Item 5. Specifically, both CPORT and CASIC total scores might help predict new CP offending among CP-exclusive offenders (area under the curve [AUC] = .57 and .70, respectively). Calibration analyses found that the observed recidivism rates were much lower than the expected recidivism rates presented by the tool developers, and, thus, suggest caution over the use of these norms for applied risk assessment. Our findings provide, to some extent, preliminary evidence of CPORT cross-cultural validity.

Investigating crimes against children, specifically sexual solicitations, are complicated because not all offenders are contact-driven, meaning they want to meet the minor for sex in the physical world; instead, some offenders are fantasy-driven, in that they are more interested in cybersex and role-play. In addition, the sheer volume of cases involving the online sexual solicitation of minors makes it difficult for law enforcement to determine whether an offender is contact-driven vs. fantasy-driven. However, research shows that there are language-based differences between minors and contact-driven offenders vs. fantasy driven-offenders. Thus, we developed the Chat Analysis Triage Tool (CATT), a forensically sound investigative tool that, based on natural language processing methods, analyzes and compares chats between minors and contact-driven vs. non-contract driven offenders. Using an SVM classifier, we were successful in differentiating the classes based on character trigrams. In a matter of seconds, the existing algorithms provide an identification of an offender's risk level based on the likelihood of contact offending as inferred from the model, which assists law enforcement in their ability to triage and prioritize cases involving the sexual solicitation of minors., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)