The number of victims
9.2 Arriving at a reliable figure for the number of victims in the UK is also problematical. Between 1980 and 2001, almost 70,000 crimes were reported involving gross indecency with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse with a female child. However, there is a concern that many instances of sexual abuse go unreported, with some estimates putting this as high as 95 percent. Underreporting occurs for a number of reasons. Young victims are less likely to report abuse, independent witnesses are rare, and victims can be intimidated or have misplaced feelings of guilt or embarrassment. The fact that victims often report abuse historically, once they have reached adulthood, means that a sex offender may be active over a long period of time before coming to the attention of the authorities. This allows offenders to commit multiple offences against more than one victim before authorities become aware of them.

The impact on the victims
9.3 The psychological impact on the victims of child sexual abuse varies from case to case. For some there may be no outward signs of the abuse having affected them, but for others it has resulted in alcoholism, petty crime, mental health problems and, in extreme cases, suicide. Experiencing abuse as a child is also a risk factor that may influence whether someone becomes an offender. However, there is no proven causal link and there are a number of other risk factors.

The profile of child sex offenders
9.4 Child sex offenders do not fit a standard profile. They come from all social and ethnic backgrounds and any walk of life. They have varying levels of intelligence and interpersonal skills. Some are obsessive collectors and keep detailed diaries and pictures of children and catalogue their activities and fantasies. In the UK, by far the majority are adult white men. Although women make up only a small percentage of offenders, a larger number knowingly or otherwise facilitate child sex offences by providing access to their children or overlooking abuse. This usually occurs when the women herself is vulnerable, either economically or emotionally. Some offenders have a preference for children of a particular age, sex or appearance, while others will target any child. Most offenders in treatment programmes report that they became aware of a sexual attraction towards children before the age of 18.

Targeting and controlling victims, including 'grooming'
9.5 It is relatively uncommon for child sex offenders to abduct children, though there are instances of this, including a number of high profile cases where the child has subsequently been murdered. However, the evidence indicates that most child sex offenders abuse their own children, stepchildren, or others with whom they have a family relationship. Ease of access clearly plays a part, as does trust. Offenders can be inventive in the way obtain access to children. For example, they may target single mothers by placing or responding to advertisements in 'lonely hearts' columns.

9.6 Offenders often frequent places where children congregate, such as schools, arcades, coastal resorts, churches and stations. As confirmed by Operation Ore, some seek employment, or voluntary work, that brings them into contact with children. Others may take up certain hobbies for the same reason. While a system of pre-employment vetting has been introduced for those working children and young adults in order to deal with this threat, it can only be effective where there is a record of offending and where the identity of the person being vetted is assured.

9.7 Offenders, especially those with good social skills, often prime and control their victims through a process known as 'grooming', which can occur over a short period or over a number of years. Grooming has the dual purpose of securing the cooperation of the victim, and sometimes that of the victim's carers, and of reducing the risk of discovery or disclosure by creating an atmosphere of normality and acceptance. The latter can pose difficulties once offences come to light, with victims refusing to cooperate with an investigation, believing that the offender has done nothing wrong. Some offenders are known to show children images of child abuse and adult pornography to make their victims more susceptible to abuse. Victims have also been groomed to introduce further victims to the process of grooming and abuse.

9.8 Most child sex offenders look to control their victims through the giving or withholding of rewards, whether in the form of gifts or attention. Some use actual violence or psychological threats to ensure cooperation. For example, a child may be told that he or she will be put into care. Often, offenders exploit the victim's sense of guilt by persuading the child that he or she led the abuser on.

The nature and extent of organised child sex offending Networking
9.9 Most identified child sex offenders act alone. Organised groups are relatively rare. However, there is extensive criminal networking. Offenders network in order to exchange indecent images and fantasies, to gain access to victims, and to justify and 'normalise' their offending. For example, networks provide positive reinforcement that child pornography is acceptable. Where offenders are able to establish relationships with like-minded individuals, for example through being imprisoned together, it is possible for networks to form. However, the arrival of the internet has changed the nature and extent of networking. The internet makes it possible to network on a much wider scale and, if security measures are taken, with less risk. Online guides to all aspects of child sex are available. Some have hyper-links to bulletin boards, information about chat rooms, where IT expertise and access or grooming techniques are shared, and passwords or pass-phrases given to access pornography.

9.10 Most online child sex networks are hierarchical in structure and secretive, with access by invitation only. Individuals may be approached in chat rooms and invited to join a network. Often there is a vetting process, with status and trust being gained by evidence of illegal activity. Protecting themselves against law enforcement is a key concern, and some online child sex offenders openly discuss methods for keeping their activities from the police. There is also evidence that online networks undertake counter-intelligence activity, researching techniques used by the police and internet watch groups by debriefing people who have been arrested. Some members are aware of surveillance techniques and take steps to avoid being followed. If an offender puts members of the network at risk, perhaps by the unauthorised passing on of images, he is likely to have his computer targeted with viruses or denial of service attacks.

Grooming through the internet
9.11 Some child sex offenders use internet chatrooms (or ICQ/Instant messaging) to target and groom children, looking to encourage the child to supply indecent images of themselves, or text of a sexual nature, or ultimately to meet up. A number of offenders have shown themselves adept at manipulating the children they contact, winning their trust by pretending to understand and share their interests and feelings. The anonymity of the internet allows adult offenders to misrepresent themselves as young children or more often teenagers, making it easier for them to establish a bond. In some cases, children have been duped into meeting up with offenders, who have then attempted to abuse them sexually, sometimes successfully.

Images of child abuse
9.12 Some experts believe that viewing images of child abuse allows offenders to normalise their sexual feelings and break down any barriers of guilt and fear which prevent them from physically offending. Whatever the precise link between viewing images and committing child sex acts, possessing the images is an offence in itself. Moreover, the demand for new images encourages producers to find new victims or to repeat the abuse of existing victims. Production of images usually involves abuse of a child, although some images of adults are altered through a process known as 'morphing'. The internet has enabled a rapid growth in the publication of computer-based images of child abuse and their global distribution. Computer-based images of child abuse have now largely replaced printed material.

9.13 The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) disseminates intelligence on websites containing images of child abuse to law enforcement, and liaises with UK Internet Service Providers, so that illegal material can be removed from their servers. In 2002, the number of reports made to the IWF increased by 64 percent. Over half of all illegal websites known to the IWF are hosted in the USA, although the number in Russia has more than doubled (from 286 to 706). However, sites may be hosted in one country and managed from elsewhere. This creates significant difficulties for law enforcement, not least in identifying and tracing the victims who feature in images of child abuse. Often there are no leads for research into the victims' identity or the location of the abuse. However, the National Crime Squad's Childbase initiative is an attempt to tackle the problem by analysing seized images.

9.14 It is possible that a relatively small number of offenders, either individually or operating in networks, are responsible for the production of large quantities of child pornography. Some may distribute it for pleasure rather than profit via newsgroups, peer2peer networks, fileservers, non-payment internet sites and community groups. However, the potential profits to be made from selling images of child abuse online has also attracted serious and organised criminals. Advances in internet technology mean that it is now also used to show real-time video coverage of abuse simultaneously to a number of viewers.

Sex tourism
9.15 Some British child sex offenders travel abroad in order to abuse children. Some may take victims with them, some are known to prearrange access to victims, usually via the internet, but most seek out places where they will have easy access to children, including child prostitutes. In doing so, they are, of course, hoping to escape detection by UK authorities. If successful, as well as the crimes committed abroad, the risk they pose in the UK may also increase should they become more confident in their child sex offender activities.

9.16 The attraction of particular countries relates to a number of factors, includinga low age of consent or tolerance of sex with children,
inadequate legislation or poorly resourced law enforcement and an established sex industry.
Poverty is also an important factor and countries where natural or economic disaster has created large numbers of vulnerable children are likely to attract child sex offenders.

Some child sex offenders deliberately target countries where children are less physically developed for their age. British child sex offenders are known to have travelled widely, including Eastern Europe (particularly the Czech Republic and Romania), South East Asia (particularly Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, and increasingly Vietnam), India (Goa), Brazil and Cuba. Spain and Greece are also popular because they have a lower age of consent than the UK and it is relatively easy for child sex offenders to travel there.

9.17 Although other countries may seem to be more attractive destinations than the UK for sex tourists, there is some evidence that foreign nationals have travelled to Britain and committed sex offences. This implies that there is a gap in the arrangements for managing sex offenders since foreign sex offenders are not required to register in the UK (although this will be dealt with in the new Sex Offences Act). It is possible that foreign offenders will not come to the attention of the UK authorities and that even if they become known, there may be insufficient information to conduct a reliable risk assessment or pre-employment checks.

Combatting re-offending by child sex offenders
9.18 Various measures have been introduced in the UK to deal with child sex offenders. Most measures focus on combating re-offending, as in the case of the treatment of offenders. Prison treatment programmes are run for convicted child sex offenders, although the numbers of offenders and the resource-intensive nature of the treatment mean that it is in limited supply. Post-release treatment is also extremely important, since re-offending rates may increase when offenders feel insecure and isolated and are not provided with the strategies and skills to address their offending behaviour. The Probation Service in England and Wales is reviewing and improving the range of community treatment programmes. However, the success of any treatment programme depends heavily on the willingness of the offender to participate.

9.19 Other measures involve monitoring the whereabouts and activities of offenders. Child (and adult) sex offenders who have committed an offence since 1997, or were in custody at that time, are required to register their name and address with the police for a specified period under the Sex Offenders Act 1997. The levels of compliance are very high. However, some offenders deliberately pursue an itinerant lifestyle in order to avoid registration, either to make re-offending easier or through fear of vigilantism. Failure to comply with the requirement to register is a criminal offence. Meanwhile, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 enables police forces to apply for Sex Offender Orders prohibiting an offender from prescribed activities and locations.

9.20 Released sex offenders who are judged to pose a high risk to the public are managed by the police and Probation Service in England and Wales through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Similar but non-statutory arrangements exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland. MAPPA are supported by legislation and national guidelines. Each police force area has MAPPA Panels, consisting of senior police and Probation Service officers, and often involving other agencies such as Social Services and local housing authorities. However, most child sex offenders are not managed through MAPPA and there are no common standards for their management. To address this, the police service has invested in an IT-based management tool, known as ViSOR, that pools information on sex offenders.

9.21 Measures aimed at preventing child sex offenders from obtaining jobs where they pose a risk to children are based around pre-employment vetting. For example, there are procedures for educational institutions to check whether prospective teachers have a record for misconduct. Meanwhile, the Criminal Records Bureau, established in 2002, offers employers the ability to check whether potential employees looking to work with children have previous convictions.

relevé de http://www.ncis.co.uk/ukta/2003/threat09.asp