Sexual crime against minors is becoming an increasing problem in modern society. One of the dangerous factors of this counteraction is the development of Internet technologies, where predators are increasingly revealing their activities. Therefore, this problem eludes law enforcement in great numbers and requires an immediate solution. This scientific paper compares and identifies similarities and differences between online sexual predators and in-person sexual abusers. This study will help get a more detailed and in-depth understanding of the problem and contribute to further finding ways to solve it.
First of all, this study will show similarities between the Internet and real sex offenders. Hence, they are united by the commonality of their task, seduction, and further sexual abuse of children under the age of eighteen. Moreover, they try to get as close to the victim as possible, which includes both physical and psychological intimacy (Fauzi & Bours, 2020). This process also includes establishing a trusting relationship with minors, which implies not only communication but also gifts, attention, and the establishment of friendly relations (Cardei & Rebedea, 2017). In addition, the danger of both sex offenders is that they are trained and use tactics that can confuse and confuse minors. This is done so that potential victims cannot recognize the wrong hint and become utterly close to the rapist.
Another name for a sexual offense against minors is grooming. Due to the mentioned actions of violators of the law, there may be cases of the use of threats and physical force to intentionally cause sexual violence or ill-treatment of minors. However, it is important to note that these cruel actions are used in extreme and rare cases since strategies have been developed for criminals to establish trusting relationships not only with children but also with their families and environment.
The main difference between the two types of sex offenders studied is in the ways of luring the victim and establishing contact. Henceforth, following the name, in-person offenders prefer to perform their illegal actions in real life. In contrast, Internet predators use online technologies that are popular among young people, which also gives them room for action (Winters et al., 2017). Therefore, they use deceptive online communications to seduce minors, and sometimes it comes to direct threats when it seems to children that there is no other way to avoid the current situation, than to obey. The method used by online sexual abusers is talk of sex, pornography, or the performance of sexual acts (Gottfried et al., 2020). This type of crime against minors is presented as a unique threat to children and adolescents. This is due to the anonymity of communication, which liberates victims more and misleads them.
Sexual violence as a global issue remains one of the leading social concerns, which has devastating consequences for both victims and society as a whole. Saving and warning people from becoming victims of sexual harassment and violence become the primary agenda for all legislative and law enforcement agencies. That is why awareness is needed about who the Internet sexual predators are, who increasingly involve underage children under their influence. This work came to two main conclusions concerning in-person and online criminals. The main similarity between these people is their goal to gain control and perform sexual acts on juveniles. The difference between the two types of sex offenders is the method of action, some carry out tactics of luring children through the Internet, while others act in real life.
References
Cardei, C., & Rebedea, T. (2017). Detecting sexual predators in chats using behavioral features and imbalanced learning. Natural Language Engineering, 23(4), 589-616.
Fauzi, M. A., & Bours, P. (2020). Ensemble method for sexual predators identification in online chats. 2020 8th International Workshop on Biometrics and Forensics, 1-6.
Gottfried, E. D., Shier, E. K., & Mulay, A. L. (2020). Child pornography and online sexual solicitation. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22(3), 1-8.
Winters, G. M., Kaylor, L. E., & Jeglic, E. L. (2017). Sexual offenders contacting children online: an examination of transcripts of sexual grooming. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 23(1), 62-76.