Title: Demographic, mental health, and offending
characteristics of online child exploitation material offenders: A comparison
with contact‐only and dual sexual offenders
Authors: Marie Henshaw, James R. P. Ogloff,
Jonathan A. Clough
Date:
April, 2018
Abstract:Technological advances have dramatically
increased the ability to access, distribute and produce child exploitation
material (CEM) online, resulting in increased numbers of individuals being
charged with CEM offences. This study examined the demographic, mental health,
and offending characteristics of CEM offenders (n = 456) in comparison to child
contact sexual offenders (n = 493) and offenders with a history of both CEM and
contact offences (dual offenders, n = 256). A robust data linkage methodology was
employed to link records from statewide corrections services with policing and
mental health records in Victoria, Australia. The results indicated that CEM
offenders differed from both contact and dual offenders, and that the groups
were primarily differentiated based on two factors: antisocial orientation and
sexual deviance. CEM offenders demonstrated high rates of sexual deviance but
low rates of antisociality, contact offenders exhibited the opposite pattern,
and dual offenders had both high sexual deviance and antisociality. The
findings suggest that existing sexual offender assessment and treatment
frameworks are unlikely to be suitable for exclusive CEM offenders. The
implications for future research are discussed.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2337
Keywords:
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