1 Thesis title, keywords and abstract Thesis title: Sexually motivated cybercrime Keywords: cybercrime, virtual child pornography, sexting, pornographic performances, cyber grooming, sexual solicitation of children This master thesis deals with the issue of cybercrime against persons more specifically with sexually motivated crimes. The thesis is divided into five separate chapters. The first chapter deals with cybercrime in general, its taxonomy and the necessary terminology, it also describes some of the criminogenic factors of cybercrime relevant for the issue. The second chapter presents the most important applicable international legal instruments. The third chapter describes the issue of illicit pornography especially child pornography. For the subsequent chapters the author's own taxonomy was used and they overlap in part. The fourth chapter explores the phenomenon of sexting and the use of web cameras for sexual purposes as a consensual activity. In the fifth chapter the misuse of these activities for the purposes of child grooming, extortion and commercial sexual exploitation of children is examined. The chapters three to fine represent the core of the thesis and are outlined as follows: First, the criminological aspects are analyzed. Then some general thoughts on legal regulation of the given...

This study examined the association of social anxiety, loneliness, and problematic Internet use (PIU) with the online solicitation of minors. Within a convenience sample of adult Internet users from Germany, Finland, and Sweden (N = 2,828), we compared the responses of participants who had not interacted sexually with strangers online (n = 2,049) with participants who sexually interacted with unknown adults online (n = 642), and both groups with adults who sexually solicited unknown minors online (n = 137). Online sexual interaction with adults was associated with higher levels of social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU compared with not sexually interacting with strangers online. Sexually soliciting minors online was associated with higher levels of social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU compared with sexually interacting with adults and not sexually interacting with strangers at all. Interestingly, compared with those with adult contacts, loneliness was specifically pronounced for participants who solicited children, whereas social anxiety and PIU were pronounced for participants soliciting adolescents. These findings suggest that social anxiety, loneliness, and PIU may be among the motivators for using the Internet to solicit individuals of different age groups for sexual purposes. These factors emerged as specifically relevant for adults who sexually solicited minors and who reported greater impairments compared with adults who sexually interacted with adults. These characteristics may thus be important to consider for assessment and treatment procedures for individuals soliciting minors online.

Objectives: This study examined how frequently online sexual solicitation of adolescents and children by adults occurs and what characteristics the perpetrators have using a novel methodological approach. Method: In an online survey, we investigated the frequency of online sexual solicitation exhibited by adult Internet users (N ¼ 2,828), including a subgroup recruited on pedophilia-related websites. Perpetrators soliciting adolescents were compared to those soliciting children concerning solicitation outcomes (e.g., cybersex) and demography. Results: In total, 4.5 percent reported soliciting adolescents and 1.0 percent reported soliciting children. Most solicitors of adolescents and children were from pedophilia-related websites (49.1 and 79.2 percent). Solicitation frequently involved sexual outcomes (47.5 percent), which also followed nonsexual interaction. The minors’ age did not affect the odds of sexual outcomes. A substantial proportion of perpetrators were female. Conclusions: This study offers unprecedented data on the number of adults soliciting minors. Although adolescents were more often target of solicitation, the risk of sexual outcomes was equally high in solicitation of children, suggesting younger children to be considered in prevention efforts as well. Nonsexual interactions resulting in sexual outcomes need to be more closely examined to inform appropriate prevention efforts. Moreover, awareness should be raised about females as perpetrators.

L’approche de la carrière criminelle a été appliquée à maintes reprises auprès de délinquants sexuels afin d’approfondir les connaissances relatives à leur participation criminelle, à la fréquence de leur passage à l’acte, à la durée de leur parcours criminel, à la gravité de leurs crimes et au polymorphisme dont ces délinquants font preuve. Parallèlement à l’essor des nouvelles technologies, un besoin grandissant d’en apprendre davantage sur la carrière criminelle des auteurs de leurre informatique s’est fait ressentir. À ce jour, peu d’études ont analysé le parcours criminel emprunté par ces cyberdélinquants sexuels en ayant recours au cadre d’analyse de la carrière criminelle. Afin de remédier à cette limite, le présent mémoire a comme objectif principal d’analyser les parcours criminels des auteurs de leurre informatique afin d’élargir les connaissances quant à la participation, la fréquence, la durée, la gravité et le polymorphisme. Plus précisément, l’objectif spécifique est d’analyser les tendances en termes de carrières criminelles. Pour ce faire, une analyse de profils latents a été menée auprès d’un échantillon de 1 201 auteurs de leurre. Les résultats indiquent l’existence de divers parcours criminels des auteurs de leurre et mettent en lumière quatre profils, soit (1) l’auteur de leurre « ponctuel à délinquance unique », (2) l’auteur de leurre « versatile tardif », (3) l’auteur de leurre « délinquant sexuel spécialiste » et (4) l’auteur de leurre « polymorphe prolifique ». Le premier profil identifié est composé d’auteurs de leurre ne commettant qu’un seul crime à travers leur parcours criminel selon les données officielles. Le second profil, pour sa part, regroupe les individus commettant plusieurs crimes sexuels et non sexuels et qui mettent fin tardivement à leur carrière criminelle. Ensuite, le troisième profil identifié comprend les auteurs ayant un penchant pour les crimes de sexuels, bien que leur carrière criminelle soit limitée en termes de participation et de fréquence. Dernièrement, le quatrième profil est constitué d’auteurs polymorphes commettant une variété de crimes sexuels et non sexuels. / The criminal career approach has been extensively applied in the context of sexual delinquency and allowed to deepen knowledge regarding the crimes committed by sex offenders, the duration of their criminal involvement, the seriousness of their criminal behaviors, and the variety of crimes they commit. Along with the rise of new technologies, there has been a growing need to learn more about the criminal careers of online groomers. To date, no studies have analyzed the criminal path of these online sex offenders using a criminal career framework. To remedy this limitation, the main objective of this paper is to analyze the criminal paths of online groomers as to broaden knowledge on participation, frequency, duration, seriousness, and versatility. Specifically, the objective is to identify tendencies in regards to their criminal careers. To do so, a latent profile analysis was performed on a sample of 1 201 online groomers. The results support the existence of multiple delinquent paths of individuals who sexually solicit youth online and highlight the existence of four profiles: (1) the “one-timer” groomer, (2) the “versatile and late” groomer, (3) the “specialist sex offender” groomer, and (4) the “versatile and prolific” groomer. The first profile identified consists of online groomers committing a single crime across their criminal path. The second profile includes individuals who commit multiple sexual and non-sexual crimes and who end their criminal career belatedly. The third identified profile includes perpetrators with a preference for sexual crimes, but whose criminal careers are limited in terms of participation and frequency. Lastly, the fourth profile is composed of versatile offenders committing a variety of sexual and non-sexual crimes.

MA (Sociology) / Department of Sociology / The use of social media has in the last decade become popular among students in Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). Social relationships and communications among students mostly take place on social networks. However, because of their growing popularity abuse is also increasing on these social media platforms. Female students are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of abuse on these platforms. This study explored the experiences of online sexual harassment among female students at a selected Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) in South Africa. This was to gain insights into the extent to which female students in institutions of Higher Learning are affected by this phenomenon. In particular, the study sought to find out the different forms of online sexual harassment experienced by female students in IHL, the specific types of online platforms where this sexual harassment take place, and the coping strategies employed by these students to cope with online sexual harassment. To address these objectives, the study adopted a qualitative exploratory design which allowed understanding of these experiences through the eyes of the victims. Twenty female participants were used for the study, while semi structured interviews were employed to collect data from these individuals. Purposive and critical case sampling technique was used to identify female students who had experienced sexual harassment online in the IHL. Findings reveal that sexual harassment at the IHL has occurred mostly in the form soliciting and sending of inappropriate pictures and videos to the victims. The study also revealed that the two main platforms on which sexual harassment of female students took place were WhatsApp and Facebook. While the main strategies of coping with online sexual harassment were blocking of harassers and complete disregard of the harassers. / NRF