USA Today Article

["Finkelhor, David" <David.Finkelhor@xxxxxxx>]

 I thought that some members might be interested in this:
Survey paints different portrait of online abuser 
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
HONOLULU - Contrary to popular view, child molesters who look for their
victims online typically aren't after young children to abduct and rape.
These adults flatter teenagers, most of them girls ages 13 to 15, who
willingly meet them and usually agree to sex, according to a national
survey, the first of its type. It was reported Sunday at the American
Psychological Association meeting.
Media reports have emphasized kidnappings of very young children lured
through Internet contacts, "but that very seldom happens," says psychologist
Kimberly Mitchell of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the
University of New Hampshire.
The survey of 375 law enforcement agencies, partially financed by the U.S.
Department of Justice, focused on 129 arrests of suspected molesters who
"met" victims online. The cases accurately reflect the estimated 500 such
arrests a year, says Mitchell, who analyzed findings with co-authors Janis
Wolak and David Finkelhor. 
Among myths challenged by the survey:
*Molesters pretend to be peers. Only 5% of the suspects did.
*They move quickly. Most messaged online with future victims for more than a
month; four out of five had phone conversations.
*They don't mention wanting sex. Only one out of five hid their desire
before meeting, though many professed love and courted the children.
When teenagers do meet the adults, sex or oral sex almost always occurs, but
only 16% of the children are coerced, police investigators say.
Although molesters favor girls, about a quarter of the arrests were for
abusing teen boys. These boys may be struggling with feelings of being gay
and searching for support online, Mitchell says.
"Our prevention strategy needs to change," she says. Parents have been
warned to monitor kids' Internet use; filtering software can protect teens
too, but many know how to bypass the programs.
Parents should be open about discussing sexual topics and make it clear that
sex with an adult is a crime, Mitchell says. Depressed or otherwise troubled
children are most likely to form close online ties, studies show, and they
might be particularly vulnerable to molesters, she says.
Molesters capitalize on teens' yearning for acceptance, adds San Jose,
Calif., psychologist David Marcus: "Being understood is a powerful
aphrodisiac."


David Finkelhor* Crimes against Children Research Center* Family Research
Laboratory* Department of Sociology* University of New Hampshire* Durham, NH
03824* 
Tel 603 862-2761* Fax 603 862-1122* 
email: david.finkelhor@unh.edu

http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/
http://www.unh.edu/frl/

Find out about the Victimization of Children and Youth: An International
Research Conference, July 11-14, 2004, in Portsmouth, NH.
http://www.unh.edu/frl/