Sexual offenders contacting children online: an examination of transcripts of sexual grooming

TLDR

The study examined online grooming transcripts of adult sexual offenders targeting decoy victims. The authors coded 100 grooming transcripts for offender traits, victim traits, and conversational dynamics. All offenders were male, believed they spoke to adolescent females, introduced sexual content early, varied in contact length from a day to nearly a year, often used telephone and sought in‑person meetings, highlighting diverse grooming tactics.

Abstract

The present study investigated transcripts of adults sexually grooming decoy victims on the Internet. One hundred transcripts were coded for offender characteristics, victim characteristics, and dynamics of the conversation. The results revealed that all of the offenders were male, most of whom believed they were communicating with an adolescent female. The sexual intentions of the offenders were made clear, with the majority introducing sexual content early on into the conversation. The length of the contact ranged from one day to nearly one year, suggesting that the duration of the online grooming process may vary significantly. The majority of offenders also communicated with the decoy victim over the telephone and attempted to arrange an in-person meeting, many within short periods of time. Implications for prevention and future research are discussed.