The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

ONLINE ENTICEMENTExtent of Online EnticementAmong NDIC interviewees:• 40 percent of respondents reported that online enticement is prevalent and has becomevery easy to commit through venues such as chat rooms and social networking sites.• 14 percent of respondents reported that most of their online enticement investigationsinvolve undercover officers posing as children.Risk to ChildrenAmong NDIC interviewees:• 75 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses a high risk to children.• 48 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses the risk of sexual abuseto children.• 27 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses the risk of murder tochildren.• 23 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses the risk of abduction tochildren.• 18 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses the risk of physical abuseto children.• 14 percent of respondents reported that online enticement poses the risk of indecent selfexposurevia webcam or digital camera. In other words, the offender will entice the childto take pictures or streaming video of his or her sexual activity or nudity and then save it,use it to blackmail the child into sending more or meeting, or distribute it to childpornography offenders.Interviewees strongly suggested forbidding children to have access to computers in a privateplace such as their bedroom. They advise keeping computers in a high traffic area of the houseand monitoring their activity to decrease the likelihood of child users becoming onlineenticement victims.Online Enticement ProcessAmong NDIC interviewees:• 88 percent of respondents reported grooming as the most common online enticementmethod. The offender will usually meet a child in a public chat room geared toward teensor sexual subjects, move their conversation to a private chat room or instant message, andexchange pictures and conversation, building rapport and trust; determine the child’svulnerabilities (lack of self-esteem, problems at home, etc.) and decide if the child wouldbe an appropriate victim and the chances of being caught; blackmail the child to producesexual pictures of themselves; talk on the telephone; and finally progress to face-to-facemeetings where sexual abuse occurs.• 14 percent of respondents reported a “quick hookup” method is also commonly used inonline enticement cases. In this method, the offender almost immediately attempts todiscuss sex with the child or coerce the child into sending sexual images.• 47 percent of respondents reported that offenders often use chat rooms and social networking sites geared toward teens to identify potential victims. D-18