Protecting Children Online: Using ResearchBased Algorithms to Prioritize Law Enforcement Internet Investigations, Technical Report
Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
U.S. Department of Justice
Abstract
There is increasing public and professional concern about Internet sexual offending, as reflected
in increasing law enforcement cases and clinical referrals. While all instances of Internet
offending against minors require intervention, the number of cases and the overarching goal of
protecting children require law enforcement to prioritize cases. This project used data from 20
Internet Crimes Against Children task forces across the United States -- offender characteristics,
crime characteristics, and online behavior -- to develop empirically-based recommendations to
assist law enforcement in prioritizing: (1) cases involving production of child pornography over
possession/distribution; (2) cases involving online luring for the purpose of meeting the minor to
commit sexual offenses, over luring restricted to online behavior such as sexual chat or
exchanging pornographic images; and (3) cases involving offenders who have committed contact
sexual offenses against children over cases involving offenders with no known history. The
research builds on a previous OJJDP-funded project by increasing the number of task forces and
thereby sample size in order to develop practical recommendations, and adding a new component
ā a geographical analysis of cases ā that will assist decision makers in the allocation of training
and resources across the United States in order to combat online sexual exploitation and abuse of
children.
Description
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Technical Report
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Keywords
online victimization, law enforcement, investigation, internet victimization
Citation
Dwyer, R. G., Letourneau, P. D., McKee, T., & Moran, R. (2016). Protecting Children Online: Using Research-Based Algorithms to Prioritize Law Enforcement Internet Investigations, Technical Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.