Identifying the Demographic and Internet Use Characteristics of Technology-Facilitated Child Sex Offenders Operating in the Australian, U.S. and U.K. General Population.
Research on technology-facilitated child sex offenders outside of forensic and clinical samples is scarce but necessary to inform prevention, early intervention, and investigation. This article describes and compares the demographic characteristics and internet use habits of technology-facilitated c...
| Published in: | Journal of Interpersonal Violence Vol. 41; no. 7/8; pp. 1544 - 1570 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Apr2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=192043462&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 192043462 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 08862605 JIV jtl: Journal of Interpersonal Violence issn: 08862605 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 41 iid: 7/8 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 192043462 10.1177/08862605251403620 ppf: 1544 ppct: 26 formats: tig: atl: Identifying the Demographic and Internet Use Characteristics of Technology-Facilitated Child Sex Offenders Operating in the Australian, U.S. and U.K. General Population. aug: au: Salter, Michael Whitten, Tyson Woodlock, Delanie Stevenson, James Mat Rani, Syimah Fry, Deborah affil: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia University of Edinburgh, UK su: United Kingdom Australia United States Child sexual abuse & psychology Compulsive behavior Prevention of child sexual abuse Internet access Internet addiction Social media Child welfare Cross-sectional method Sexual orientation Sex offenders Income Violence Electronic commerce Socioeconomic factors Privacy Residential patterns Human sexuality Internet pornography addiction Age distribution Dating (Social customs) Men who have sex with men Race Marital status Sociodemographic factors Medical ethics Educational attainment Employment Friendship Video games Blogs Risk assessment Legal status of sex offenders Computer software Early medical intervention Research funding Statistical sampling Logistic regression analysis Shopping Descriptive statistics Odds ratio Videoconferencing Research Statistics Comparative studies Text messages Confidence intervals Data analysis software Disease incidence sug: subj: Child sexual abuse & psychology Compulsive behavior Prevention of child sexual abuse Internet access Internet addiction Social media Child welfare Cross-sectional method Sexual orientation Sex offenders Income Violence Electronic commerce Socioeconomic factors Privacy Residential patterns Human sexuality Internet pornography addiction Age distribution Dating (Social customs) Men who have sex with men Race Marital status Sociodemographic factors Medical ethics Educational attainment Employment Friendship Video games Blogs United Kingdom Australia United States Software publishers (except video game publishers) Computer and software stores Computer, computer peripheral and pre-packaged software merchant wholesalers Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Home entertainment equipment merchant wholesalers Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing Video game publishers Video game design and development services All Other Business Support Services Electronic shopping and mail-order houses Electronic Shopping Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals Risk assessment Legal status of sex offenders Computer software Early medical intervention Research funding Statistical sampling Logistic regression analysis Shopping Descriptive statistics Odds ratio Videoconferencing Research Statistics Comparative studies Text messages Confidence intervals Data analysis software Disease incidence keyword: child maltreatment criminology internet and abuse offenders/perpetrators prevention sexual abuse child maltreatment criminology internet and abuse offenders/perpetrators prevention sexual abuse ab: Research on technology-facilitated child sex offenders outside of forensic and clinical samples is scarce but necessary to inform prevention, early intervention, and investigation. This article describes and compares the demographic characteristics and internet use habits of technology-facilitated child sex offenders sourced from three quota-based samples comparable to the Australian (n = 1,945), U.S. (n = 1,473), and U.K. (n = 1,506) adult male population. The odds (99% CI) of technology-facilitated child sex offending, relative to non-offenders, were calculated for demographic factors (e.g. age, sexual orientation, and number of children in household), hours per day spent online, frequency of engagement in common online behaviours (e.g. sending emails, online messaging, and private video chatting), use of social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat), online pornography viewership, and use of privacy software (e.g. The Onion Router [TOR], Telegram, and Element). Logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, educational attainment, household income, and residential location were conducted separately for each sample, with effect sizes formally compared between countries. The study identified significantly higher rates of technology-facilitated offending against children in the United States (10.9%) compared to Australia (7.5%) and United Kingdom (7.0%). Online offenders were between 2 and 3.7 times more likely to work with children and, depending on the jurisdiction, were significantly more likely to be employed, married/living with a partner, have a bachelor's degree or higher, and live with a child. Across all jurisdictions, technology-facilitated offenders were significantly more sexually active online, including paying for sexual services and content, visiting romance and dating websites, and viewing violent or animal pornography. The article considers the implications of these findings for prevention, early intervention, and more effective detection of technology-facilitated offending, including the role of internet regulation and the financial sector in online child protection. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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