© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Modus Operandi of the Predatory Pedophile In the days before the Internet, pedophiles had no choice but to try and approach potential victims in person. They could, for example, park their vehicles near a school, playground, or other area that children frequent and try to get a victim’s attention by asking directions, needing help, passing out candy, or doing something else likely to draw attention from a child without arousing general alarm.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Traditional Methods of the Pedophile Pedophiles have also traditionally tended to look for vocations that allow them the advantages of working with children and having a position of trust and responsibility. There have been many examples of this activity in recent years, with numerous stories on predatory teachers, clergy, athletics coaches, and even police officers.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Traditional Methods of the Pedophile, con’t. In addition to having occupations that imply trust, these occupations also have another advantage for a would-be pedophile — a perception of power or control. In the case of clergy, the belief that the clergy member is doing God’s work can be a very powerful force in motivating a naïve youngster to do as the offender says. Likewise, with a teacher or police officer, there is a certain aura of power or authority, and the victim may fear repercussions in the form of bad grades, being kicked out of school, or even being arrested.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Traditional Methods of the Pedophile, con’t. Further, the offender may take advantage of victims’ perception of inferiority by making threats or telling them that no one would believe them over a “respected” police officer, teacher, etc. Add to all of that the constant lessons that kids should listen to and respect adults, and the child victim is in a very vulnerable position.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Grooming Victims In addition to exercising their positional superiority, pedophiles make use of another technique of preparing their victims. This process of breaking down a victim’s barriers or objections is called grooming the victim. This is not grooming in the traditional sense, e.g., combing hair or brushing teeth. Grooming, in this sense, is the process of preparing a victim and overcoming a victim’s sense of right and wrong and lowering his or her inhibitions against a sexual act.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Grooming Victims, con’t. For example, if a sex offender is looking to have sexual intercourse with a young child, he or she may show that child numerous images of child pornography in order to desensitize the child. The offender will then appeal to the child’s naïve logic and say something like, “It can’t be wrong if they are all doing it.”

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Grooming Victims, con’t. In the case of an older victim, the offender may show images or videos of other teens engaged in sexual conduct. It is widely believed that pornography desensitizes the pedophile as well, and this can actually cause a cycle of pedophilia, similar to a narcotics addiction. Offenders will eventually believe that there is nothing wrong with their pedophilia if desensitized enough. Some offenders even believe that they are just more enlightened than the rest of society in regards to sexual relations with children.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Online Predation and Child Enticement Pedophiles operate online in a wide variety of ways, and the online mechanism of anonymous communications can be a very powerful ally. Online child enticement statistics are truly frightening and demonstrate that this type of activity has tremendously increased. Studies have estimated that approximately 1 out of every 5 children 10 to 17 years old received an unwanted sexual solicitation within the past year (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2001).

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Online Predation and Child Enticement, Con’t. In the past, a pedophile would have to go to a park or school and try to talk to a child in person. Think of fishing with one fishing pole in a local stream. Now, compare that to talking to hundreds of different kids every day in an online chat room, relatively anonymously. This would be similar to casting a wide commercial fishing net into a large inland lake. Sex offenders may get so many potential victims to respond that they may have to actually work to filter their choices to a more manageable number before determining which victims they will try to meet in the real world.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ Investigating High-Tech Crime By Michael Knetzger and Jeremy Muraski Online Predation and Child Enticement, Con’t. The larger pool of potential victims and the feeling of anonymity will likely embolden pedophiles and exacerbate the problem of child enticement and sexual assault. Emboldened pedophiles online also have one other advantage — they can gradually introduce themselves to younger children. In person, it is obvious right away that they are much older than their victim, or “scary looking,” or perhaps even physically unattractive. Online, they can portray whatever persona they devise using names and photos they choose. A male pedophile who likes teenage boys could even pose as an attractive female online.