The results are presented in two parts. The first gives an overview of demographic information which describes who made the reports, victim gender and age, the age of the suspect in relation to the gender of the victim, and the gender of the suspect. In the second part, the content analysis of the additional text (n = 166 reports) is presented.
Descriptive statistics on victims and suspects of luring
The relationship of the reporter to the victim (available for 150 cases)
Of the 150 cases, 75 (50.0 %) were listed as being reported by a family member: parent or guardian (66; 44 %), sibling (3; 2 %), grandparent (3; 2 %) and other family member (3; 2 %). Forty-six (30.7 %) reports were made by the victim, 6 (4 %) from a friend, 2 (1.3 %) from a babysitter and 1 (.67 %) from a neighbour. Twenty cases (13.3 %) were recorded as ‘other’. It was possible to examine the relationship to the reporter in 55 cases where the reporter was younger than 18 years of age: 46 (83.64 %) reporters were the victims themselves, 6 (10.91 %) were a friend of the victim, 1 (1.82 %) was a babysitter and 2 (3.64 %) were family members (a sibling in both cases).
Victim gender and age
Gender was available for 243 cases. Two cases involved multiple victims and these were removed from the analysis (n = 241). Of the 241 cases, 207 (85.89 %) involved female victims and 34 (14.11 %) involved male victims. This is broadly consistent with previous indications that females are more likely to targeted (e.g. Jones et al. 2012). The age of the victim was available for 191 cases; however, in 8 (4.19 %) the ‘victim’ was confirmed as an adult posing as a child (i.e. aged 18 years or over). Only 2 (1.05 %) of the cases were under 9 years and these cases were removed (n = 181 cases). Of the remaining cases, the age of the victim ranged from 9 to 17, with a mean of 13.47 (SD = 2.22). Of those victims with confirmed gender and ages (153 females and 19 males), there were similar mean ages (male mean age = 13.47, SD = 2.22; female mean age = 13.28, SD = 1.93). A t test indicated no significant differences in the age of male and female victims (t (170) = .56, p = .58). Nevertheless, the distribution for female victims indicated more of a peak around the age of 13 while the males had a more even distribution between the ages of 10 and 17, though the small number of reports relating to males means it is difficult to detect any emerging pattern.
The age of suspect in relation to the gender of the victim
Victim gender was determined in 241 cases and this was cross-referenced with the age of the suspect. For the confirmed female victims, the age of the suspect was known for 59 of the cases and ranged from 14 to 65 years, with a mean age of 26.88 (SD = 11.97). For the confirmed male victims, the age of the suspect was known for seven cases and was slightly more restricted, ranging from 14 to 48 years, with a mean age of 24.43 (SD = 11.43).
The gender of the suspect
The gender of the suspect was recorded in 240 cases.Footnote 3 Four of these involved multiple suspects and these were removed (n = 236). In 23 cases the gender of the suspect was indicated as female (9.75 %) while the majority were male (n = 213; 90.25 %). The gender of the victims and suspects were cross-referenced where the data for both were available (n = 220 cases). In 35 of these (15.91 %), the victim and suspect were of the same gender (11 female victims to female suspects and 24 involving male victims and male suspects). Therefore in most cases (n = 185; 84.09 %) the suspect and victim were of different genders.
Content analysis of additional text
Additional text and chat log data
The additional text provided by the reporting person came from a variety of sources that reflected in part where the online activity took place. This included: instant messaging clients (e.g. MSN and subsequently Windows live messenger); moderated game-sites; social networking sites; software applications that allows users to make voice and video calls; games that have a video and chat function; online chat groups; online dating sites; online community sites featuring advertisements; web-based email, and video-sharing sites that allow comments to be posted. It was not possible to quantify this.
Additional text was available in 166 reports (62.9 %) and 94 of the 166 reports included chat log data (56.6 %), (which in some reports amounted to over 75 A4 pages). Themes were rated across all of the data (additional text, including chat logs) by the first author and subsequently 32 of the 166 reports were randomly selected and were independently coded by the second author. Ratings noted the presence or absence of the theme in each case, rather than the number of occurrences across all of the cases. This was influenced by the fact that there was considerable variation in the amount of additional data available for each case. Coefficient kappa was calculated on the relationship between the levels of agreement between the two sets of ratings (Lombard et al. 2002). Kappas ranged from .70 to 1.0, which would be seen as acceptable in most situations (Neuendorf 2002). The frequency of these themes across 166 reports can be seen in Fig. 1. Throughout the following section anonymised extracts are used from the additional text and the chatlogs to illustrate the analysis. The language in the chat logs was extremely graphic and we have therefore limited the number of extracts used to illustrate the themes.
Sexual images
In 155 of the 166 reports (93.37 %) where additional text was provided, there were specific requests by suspects for pictures (either still or moving), or discussion of pictures that had previously been uploaded that were explicitly sexual. However, in only 3 (1.81 %) cases information was provided that indicated that sexual images of minors had been sent to a young person or child to persuade them to engage in sexual activity. The following extracts are taken from the analysts’ notes of information obtained from the reporting person:
“Suspect met victim on a social network site and migrated onto MSN. Sexual chat where he indicated a liking for much younger girls and sent her sexualised images of young females. Indicated that he contacts them through (another social networking site)” Analyst’s note.
“Highly sexualized chat on Runescape with 13-year-old boy. Request for boy to expose himself” Analyst note.
While some requests were part of a series of communications, others were immediate and had no context:
“The child victim received a message from a person she thought was her friend on MSN messenger. The person provided a URL and instructed the girl to login. Once the girl logged in, her Hotmail account was compromised. The suspect indicated that if the girl did not send naked photos of herself then they would post the images from the Hotmail account onto a sex website”. Analyst’s note.
An edited example of this immediate request for sexual pictures can be seen in the following, which took place within minutes of the suspect making contact for the first time with the young person:
S: is your pussy ready for sex?
V: idk lol i guess
V: im 13
S: your name?
(Victim supplies her name)
S: ok
S: do u have well grown breast?
V: theyr ok
S: can i have ur photo at least?(Chat log).
Voyeurism
In 82.5 % (n = 137) of these reports, the suspect made a direct request for the young person to do sexual things or send sexual images. Examples of these include:
“Beginning the previous week, the suspect posted 1 to 2 messages per night on her 11-year-old female’s Youtube.com profile. Suspect posted the comments “I want to see you naked” and ‘My penis in your bum’.” Analyst’s note.
“12 year old female met suspect on gaming site. Since then he has sent 200 + messages on a cell phone asking her to do sexual things and telling her sexual acts that he would like to do with her”. Analyst’s note.
While these requests look similar to voyeuristic behaviour involving achievement of sexual arousal through viewing the sexual activities of others or through watching others disrobe, this activity would not meet the diagnostic statistical manual (DSM5) criteria for voyeurism (First 2014) which normally refers to non-consensual behavior, although provision is made for occasions when the person is aware of the presence of voyeur and consents to this behavior. In the present study the behavior was mediated by technology, which removes the suspect and young person from immediate contact with each other, and outside the existence of any relationship.
Exhibitionism
A percentage of the suspects seemed more interested in sending sexual images of themselves to the young person, which was coded as exhibitionism. In 59 of the 166 (35.54 %) reports the suspect sent a photograph or requested that the young person open their web cam, only to be presented with an image of the suspect’s genitalia:
“Suspect asks the child if she wants to see his penis and he exposes himself and asks her to describe what she saw”. Analyst’s note.
“Suspect sent an image of his genitalia to the child victim’s Ipad as well as her mobile smartphone”. Analyst’s note.
Of concern in relation to many of these instances is that the photographs were not requested by the young person, nor were they expected. Such decontextualized exposure may be particularly harmful and distressing to some young people (Livingstone and Bober 2005).
Contact request
A third of all reports with additional text (n = 55; 33.13 %) included explicit demands to meet offline and for online sexual activity:
“Report of 18-year-old luring 14-year-old female through Facebook into having sex. He set up meeting at a local park. He has suggested that if they cannot be together he will commit suicide” Analyst’s note.
“The girl met this 18-year-old online and he came to her house and touched her in a sexual way” Analyst’s note.
Requests to meet offline rarely culminated in actual contact as evidenced in the additional text (13 reports in all where contact was recorded: 7.83 %). In 9 (4.42 %) of the reports there were offers of money for either sexual pictures or payment for sexual activity, including sexual intercourse and masturbation. All the offers except one were made by the suspect to the young person.
“Contact by IM with someone saying they are female asking 15-year-old female and her friends to send pictures of themselves in underwear for fashion photographs and offering $1000. Suggests coming to meet them for an appointment in a hotel near to them” Analyst’s note.
The exception to this was a case where the chat log indicated highly sexualised chat between a man claiming to be 22 and a 13-year-old girl.
“Appears to be highly sexualised chat between man claiming to be 22 and a 13-year-old girl. She asks him for money to arrange to meet and have oral, vaginal and anal intercourse. He asks her to bring along a friend and he will pay more” Analyst’s note.
However, the majority of reports involved a request for ‘cybersex’ only, where chat logs often began with a greeting, such as ‘hi hottie’, ‘how r u today?’ followed by a request for information about age, sex and location, before quickly moving on to ask for photographs or online sex. The language was often crude, ‘my d… is sweaty for u’ and unambiguous ‘u a vergin still?’ and ‘I’d like to lick ur c…..’. There were often early requests for information about physical appearance, ‘can i ask ur bra size not that i care’ or information about the likelihood of responding sexually ‘umm r u naughty or not really’. Many chat logs began with repeated invitations for the young person to open their web cam (sometimes occurring up to 30 times), followed by numerous texts about wanting to meet the person. Sometimes young people’s responses were sexual:
“yes we are developed we both have nice little tits for you to play with” Chat log.
A few of the logs were very short and to the point: ‘so do u wanna cam 2 cam or no?’
On occasion there was explicit reference to the fact that the suspect was not a child. If the reaction to this was negative, the suspect terminated the chat: ‘im not 9 im 40 year old’.Others made reference to the sexual behaviour of the suspect, either in the context of photographs, the use of a web cam or the exchanges of sexual texts:
“come on baby, im going to c.. Right away you have to type faster than that” Chat log.
However, the tone of the logs was not always so crude or aggressive, and three of the suspects engaged their victim in a lot of ‘romantic exchanges’ before the content became sexual. This was often positioned as introducing the young person to the pleasures of sex:
“Suspect: I will be tender and loving with you, I sure, I can bring you to an orgasm, alone just the two of as…..;)
Victim: sounds like fun:)” Chat log.
Flattery was often used by the suspect, especially in the context of young people who clearly felt that they were ugly, too thin or that no-one liked them: “ur cute”. This turned sexual, regardless of apparent intent, very often with explicit acknowledgement that the young person was underage and the conversation was inappropriate:
“Suspect: i have big penis.
Victim: ok.
Suspect: i can show you it.
Victim: no.
Suspect: why.
Victim: i am 10 and i have a boyfriend i do not want to see your penis” Chat log.
Where the young person showed no resistance and did not either terminate the chat or seek help from someone else, the conversation was often explicit, and followed a description of a variety of sexual acts including oral and penetrative sex as well as frequent reference to masturbation.
Resistance
Many young people (n = 54: 32.53 %) resisted the approaches of the suspect and showed a lot of resilience in the face of persistent demands:
“The suspect threatens to delete the child/block her if she does not comply with his requests to show him her face and chest. The suspect is specific about wanting to see the child’s bare chest. She refuses”. Analyst’s note.
However, many young people simply announced that they would tell their parents (or more specifically their mother):
“12-year-old female disclosed to her mother that she had received an email from an unknown individual which stated, ‘I want to see you naked’.” Analyst’s note.
Other strategies involved blocking the suspect, deleting them from their friends list and asking a friend to join the chat.
Threats
In 40 (24.10 %) reports threats were identified. The largest number involved the distribution of existing images through websites, or to a list of contacts known to the young person (including their parents).
“The suspect indicated that if the girl did not send naked photos of herself then they would post the images from the Hotmail account onto a sex website”. Analyst’s note.
Threats also were made of compromising the young person’s computer or their accounts:
“The suspect then told the victim that if she didn’t show him her breasts he would delete all her MSN contacts and would erase all the information on her computer”. Analyst’s note.
When she refused he threatened to “fuck ur computer? “… She indicated that the suspect was able to turn her webcam and microphone off and on, as well the suspect has taken over her Messenger account and blocked her out. Analyst’s note.
There were also emotional threats made by suspects that they would commit suicide if the young person did not comply, or that they would end contact with them.
Self-generated content
In 31 (18.67 %) of reports there was documentation to indicate that the young person had in fact sent images of themselves to the suspect, usually where the suspect was older, or where threats were made if the young person did not comply.
“The suspect appears to be in possession of a video clip acquired from the victim where the the child victim is topless and now is demanding additional images.” Analyst’s note.
“The reporting person indicated that their daughter was lured into sending pornographic images of herself to numerous people she had met on MSN messenger” Analyst’s note.
Mobile phones
In 28 reports (16.87 %) there was evidence of movement from Internet related activity to the use of a mobile phone to exchange texts and images:
“RP found two images of the child victim which were sent by cellphone to the suspect. In one image, the child was naked while in the other, the child was wearing her bra and underwear” Analyst’s report.
Mobile phones were also used to maintain contact between the suspect and the young person.
“The suspect is sending the child victim sexual images of himself and asked for the child victim to perform sexual acts for him over the Internet. He has been sending her cell phones to maintain contact” Analyst’s report.
However, in only 13 of the 28 reports was there evidence that the use of mobile phones was associated with an attempt to meet the young person offline.
“Report of a 14-year-old girl who met suspect online on Speed date. Subsequently communicated through messages sent by cell phone texts and arranged to meet.” Analyst’s note.
Deception
There were few reports (n = 11: 6.63 %) where deception was clearly indicated in the additional text (e.g. the age or gender of the suspect was determined through searching online public information). Deception largely involved the age of the suspect, with adult males (in one case an adult female) pretending to be young adolescents (12–17 years of age).
“Sexualised chat on Runescape between a 10 year old boy and someone saying they were 13. Request for cell number and question whether it is a camera phone. Suggested sending an image of his penis to the child and also a request for pictures”. Analyst’s note.
“Chat and request for a 10-year-old girl to take off her clothes and show him her chest. He claims that his webcam isn’t working. He gives her lots of compliments and says that he is a twelve-year-old boy. Analyst’s note.
Other cases of deception involved claims of being the opposite gender.
“17-year-old boy who had a relationship with person he thought was a girl the same age via MSN. Exchanged photographs.” Analyst’s note.
Vulnerability
Eight cases (4.82 %) made specific reference to some aspect of psychological or physical vulnerability.
“The reporting person indicated that her 15-year-old granddaughter is involved in a sexual relationship with the suspect who is 19. The granddaughter has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and is on medication. The suspect is sending the child victim sexual images of himself and asked for the child victim to perform sexual acts for him over the Internet. He has been sending her cell phones to maintain contact. They have also met at hotels” Analyst’s report.
“15-year-old female who is deaf and does not have age-appropriate social/emotional development, has been involved in role playing on Facebook. Contact involves explicit sexual role playing with an adult. Suspect offers to send her gifts and appears to know she is underage” Analyst’s report.
One young person with anorexia nervosa was targeted.
“15-year-old female, the suspect, who was 29 years old, requested her to show herself on her webcam in addition indicated he wanted to meet her in person. Suspect would surf internet sites pertaining to “pro-ana” and would promise to help girls to lose weight. The suspect indicated to her he was in favor of anorexic girls as they had the body of a child in addition, the suspect told her he was a pedophile.” Analyst’s report.
Peer sex
In a relatively small number of cases the text was strongly suggestive of peer sex (n = 17:10.24 %), with two young people engaging in what appeared to be highly sexualised chat (including an exchange of images or the use of a web cam) but where they seemed to be similar in age with little suggestion of aggression or coercion:
“12-year-old accepted this contact on MSN who asked if he/she had a webcam. Said his age was 11 but subsequently said he was 16.”. Analyst’s note.
“17-yea- old boy engages in sexualised chat with 14-year-old girl on Runescape. Appears to be mutual”. Analyst’s note.
However, this was not always the case:
“13-year-old girl received lewd comments on Facebook from an acquaintance who is a minor. Facebook account deleted” Analyst’s note.
Vigilantism
There was one final category that was identified in the additional text and that included ‘vigilantism’: reports made by adults and young people who went online to discover what was usually termed sick or ‘pedo’ activity. Nineteen (11.45 %) reports in all were included in this category.
“Vigilante activity by young man who engaged with offender who was supposedly a teacher and who reported sexual interest in boys”. Analyst’s note.
“Person pretending to be a 13-year-old girl chatting online with a man who said he was 30 and wanted to have cybersex” Analyst’s note.