Internet-Facilitated Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Abstract

This bulletin summarizes findings from the Internet‐Facilitated Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (IF‐CSEC) component of the 2006 Second National Juvenile Online Victimization study. Following are some key findings from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention‐sponsored study: • An estimated 569 arrests for IF‐CSEC were made in the United States in 2006; more than half of the arrests involved the offender marketing and selling child pornography. • Most offenders (83%) purchased child pornography or sex with a minor, but an important minority (17%) profited from the exploitation. Profiteers appeared to be more seasoned offenders who were involved in larger, organized networks of criminals, such as prostitution and human trafficking rings. • Many offenders (39%) were acquaintances of the IF‐CSEC victims, 23% were family members, and 17% were people the victims had met online. The rest were mostly pimps. • Compared with victims of Internet sexual crimes that do not involve a commercial aspect, a greater per‐ centage of IF‐CSEC victims, as part of the current crime, were assaulted, given drugs or alcohol, and were the subject of child pornography