Child abuse and the variety of offences that lie under the definitions of abuse have existed since the dawn of humankind. Children have been forced into slave labour and sexual maltreatment in virtually all societies at one time or another. Until the end of the 20th Century, the majority of child sexual abuse cases would have been isolated, confined and locally orientated. However, from 1996 onwards, with the dawn of the internet combined with media information, the image of ‘men in dirty raincoats’ has been replaced with the more accurate portrayal of offenders who are ‘educated, articulate, and well resourced’.

The internet is a phenomena that has globalised world cultures and eradicated frontiers. With the ability to locate and connect anything in demand, the criminal world has thrived in the digital sphere as much as the legitimate market. The individual paedophile now has the ability to discover and create links with other like-minded perverse groups and this is what is of particular interest to the evolving criminal world of child sex offences. Prosecuted sex offender David Hines told Panorama; “I had friends all over the world, I had never had so many friends before”.

This blog will explore how the internet is utilised by the global sex crime industry, the scale impact this has on local offences, and in following blog entries will explore government responses and counter-measures to tackle the internationally connected rings of child sex offenders. This topic is of particular interest due to the multi dimensional perspectives that can be applied to its complex nature. The psychology of sexual attraction and internet availability, the sociology of world-wide disgust for paedophiles, the economics of selling indecent materials for profit, the politics of responding and acting against child abuse, the legal aspects of prosecuting or treating sex offends and broader criminological perspectives of globalisation and increased deviant coherency on the internet.

The epicentre and main focus of global child sex crime is the production and distribution of indecent images and materials via the internet. Previously, for this enterprise to survive commercially before the internet, child pornography has leant on the necessity for physical proximity (family, friends, neighbours) and communication supports (magazines, films and physical photographs). The arrival of the internet has eliminated both constraints simultaneously. The distribution of materials is unrestricted by national borders and incalculable amounts of information has become instantly accessible. The result is an enormous reduction in effort required for a paedophile to satisfy his urges, he does not even have to leave his room. This in itself creates an online-culture in which the offender will not even feel as if they are offending.The scale is shown in the figures. The Greater Manchester Police Abusive Images Unit seized a grand total of 12 indecent images in 1995. In 1999, the very same squad seized 41,000 images, all of which found on computer hard drives.

The simple exchange of images between internet users soon became so large scale, that a scope for profit and business was soon identified by career criminals. Websites have been founded as international businesses providing a service of illicit materials for customers to purchase and download. They embody the worldwide supply and demand now emerging that combines profit and perversion. A website owned by Landslide Inc. provided users with access to a further 300 websites containing child pornography and had a subscriber base of 75,000 individuals. Before the authorities closed the website down it was found to have made 1.4 million US dollars from card payments. 70% of the profit went to the image providers and 30% to the company. Many involved in this organisation were not paedophiles, but simply criminals who exploited a gap in the criminal market.

Events such as this show the harrowing globalisation of child abuse, and commercialisation of pornography generated from this abuse. Cyber crime such as this can be immensely difficult to identify and prevent, and further blog entries will draw upon case examples to reflect on the counter-initiatives and responses that have been implemented to fight the battle.

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References:

1. Arnaldo, C. A. (ed.) (2001) Child Abuse On The Internet: Ending The Silence. Oxford. Berghahn Books.

2. Cooper, G. (1996) Paedophiles are not men in dirty raincoats. They are clever people whom naive children trust. The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/paedophiles-are-not-men-in-dirty-raincoats-they-are-clever-people-whom-naive-children-trust-1313167.html (Accessed 1st October, 2014).

3. Carr, J. (2003) Child Abuse, Child Pornography and The Internet, make-it-safe.net. Available at: http://make-it-safe.net/esp/pdf/Child_pornography_internet_Carr2004.pdf (Accessed 2nd October, 2014).

4. Hines, D. (2001) Paedophile ring exposed. Panorama. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/1162880.stm (Accessed 1st October, 2014).

5. Shaw, D. (2011) ‘World’s largest paedophile ring’ uncovered. BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12762333 (Accessed 2nd October, 2014).