Use of child sexual abuse material: Prevalence, etiology, case prioritization and prognosis

Abstract

The prevalence of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has consistently doubled in recent years. This increased caseload poses a variety of new challenges to police, probation, and forensic therapists. This paper therefore presents current theoretical models and empirical findings to assist practitioners in their daily work. Specifically, the extent of the problem and etiological explanatory models are presented. Subsequently, empirical findings on CSAM offenders are presented and compared with offenders who also commit hands-on offenses. Furthermore, the problem of crossover offenders is discussed. Finally, approaches are presented to prioritize cases in police investigations and to predict the recidivism risk of CSAM offenders.