Understanding And Investigating Child Sexual Exploitation

This guide indicates the sexual victimization of children is perpetrated by family members, acquaintances, and strangers; encompasses pornography, sex rings, and prostitution; and primarily involves preferential sex offenders who victimize children by operating child sex and pornography rings. Preferential sex offenders tend to be predatory serial offenders and can usually be identified by long-term and persistent behavior patterns, specific sexual interests, and fantasy-driven behavior. They often suffer from paraphilias, psychosexual disorders that involve recurrent, intense, and sexually arousing fantasies and from sexual urges and behaviors that usually involve nonhuman objects, the humiliation of oneself or one's partner, and children or other nonconsenting persons. In child sex ring and pornography cases, offenders typically control their victims by seducing them with attention, affection, kindness, and gifts until they have lowered the victim's inhibitions and gained his or her cooperation and consent. Because of their bond with the offender, victims frequently resent law enforcement intervention and may even warn the offender. The investigation of child sexual exploitation cases involving multiple victims molested by preferential offenders is usually complex and difficult. Guidelines are presented for interviewing victims and offenders, investigating offenders, recovering child exploitation evidence, obtaining expert search warrants, and conducting an effective prosecution. Special procedures to follow when investigating child sexual exploitation cases involving computers are noted, and types of offenders who engage in child pornography using computers are identified. An investigator's checklist for interviewing victims of preferential sex offenders is included. 6 references.

The issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE) has received intense scrutiny in recent years, following a number of high profile legal cases, serious case reviews and inquiries. This has resulted in increasing expectations that those working in the field will know how to appropriately manage and respond to this form of abuse. Of course, this is no easy task given the widely acknowledged difficulties of identifying and responding to sexual abuse and the particular complexities associated with the gain dynamic within CSE and the predominantly older age of children affected by it. This edited collection draws on the latest research evidence and academic thinking around CSE to consider issues of understanding and response. Written by researchers from ‘The International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking’ at the University of Bedfordshire, Part I considers issues of understanding and conceptualisation. Part II considers the practical implications of some of this thinking, sharing learning from research and evaluation on prevention, identification and response. Understanding and Responding to Child Exploitation presents critical learning for academics and students, and for those working in the fields of policy, practice and commissioning. It is relevant to a wide range of disciplines including social care, youth work, education, criminology, health and social policy.

Over the last decade there has been dramatically increased interest in the ways that technology has been used in the abuse and exploitation of children, due in part to increasing numbers of convictions for child pornography-related offenses. Opinion swings between those who feel that there is a danger of distorting the threat posed to children by technology, and those for whom it appears that the threat has been grossly underestimated. Current literature surrounding the debate at times seems to create more questions than answers and what quickly becomes apparent is that the data we have to inform our understanding is partial, potentially context specific, and at times seemingly contradictory. This book broadens our understanding of the complex nature of online sexual exploitation of children and considers the risk that those engaged in Internet-related offences pose to children in both the online and offline environments. It focuses on cutting-edge research and conceptual thinking that views perpetrators within context, examines those impacted by such offending, describes emerging legal and policy issues, and proposes innovative strategies for prevention within a dynamic global environment. Understanding and Preventing Online Sexual Exploitation of Children responds to the growing call for help across all practice areas, from judicial to therapeutic, and will provide an invaluable resource for practitioners and policy makers working in the field, as well as students and academics studying sexual exploitation and cyber crime.

Address major issues relating to child abuse (CA), including: battered child syndrome: investigating physical abuse & homicide; burn injuries in CA; child neglect & Munchausen syndrome by proxy; criminal investigation of child sexual abuse; diagnostic imaging of CA; forming a multidisciplinary team to investigate CA; interviewing child witnesses & victims of sexual abuse; law enforcement response to CA; photo-documentation in the investigation of CA; recognizing when a child's injury or illness is caused by abuse; sexually transmitted diseases & child sexual abuse; & understanding & investigating child sexual exploitation.

As child sexual abuse investigation and intervention in the United States has evolved over the past decade, it has become clear that no single discipline or agency can meet the needs of abused children and their families. Coordinated investigative teams, involving an alliance between a wide range of professionals - such as criminal justice professionals, social workers, medical practitioners and mental health clinicians - are needed for fact-finding, child protection and criminal prosecution. This practical book focuses on how to design, develop, operate and maintain effective teams. It begins with examinations of how to build teams and the roles and responsibilities of the professionals involved. Investigative interviewing

Intended for investigators, attorneys, clinicians, court evaluators, medical practitioners, and anyone who is involved in the litigation of child sexual abuse, this book focuses on proven field-tested methods gathered from law enforcement and clinical practitioners throughout the country. This definitive handbook guides anyone who needs to investigate or assess child sexual abuse allegations through the essential steps of inquiry.

The issue of Child Sexual Exploitation is firmly in the public spotlight internationally and in the UK, but just how well is it understood? To date, many CSE-related services have been developed in reaction to high profile cases rather than being designed more strategically. This much needed book breaks new ground by considering how psychosocial studies, feminist and geo-environmental theories, amongst others, can improve practice understanding and interventions. Edited by one of the leading scholars in the field, this text will help those planning strategic interventions and practice activities in social, youth and therapeutic work with young people to properly grasp how CSE arises and how to challenge the nature of abuse.