The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

multiple layers of security in an attempt to evade law enforcement. Because members of suchgroups frequently are driven to commit contact offenses against children and take extraordinaryefforts to go undetected, investigations into such groups’ activities are very challenging andresource intensive. 47As law enforcement investigations illustrate, 48 these criminal enterprises typically go to greatlengths to evade law enforcement and, ultimately, are identified only when an individualmember’s computer is seized for unrelated conduct and law enforcement, posing as the member,observes the group activity on the computer and can infiltrate the group. While investigationsinto these groups can yield the arrest of multiple child molesters, identification of the membersand cooperation with foreign law enforcement, which may be required, can frustrate efforts toidentify specific suspects.4. Law enforcement agencies are focusing on factors that may help predictchild pornographers who pose a greater risk to children.Due to limited resources, law enforcement officers often are tasked with determining the ultimatetargets of law enforcement operations; namely, who among the vast numbers of potential targetspose the greatest risk to children. While such determinations are difficult, certain characteristicstend to suggest an offender may pose a great risk to children, while other offenders may pose lessof a threat.Certain factors or characteristics, or combinations thereof, can signal that a particular childpornography offender poses a higher risk of being or becoming a contact offender. Interviews oflaw enforcement officers in this field, along with a review of research studies, suggest that thefollowing factors or characteristics, alone or in combination, may signal such a risk:• The offender has a prior history of sex offenses.• The offender demonstrates a certain commitment to the collection or trade or both ofchild pornography.o The offender has been involved in the collection or trade of child pornographicimages for a relatively long time.o The offender participates in online child pornography communities.o The offender uses more than one technology to collect or trade child pornography.o The offender uses advanced technologies to collect, or trade, or both, childpornography.o The offender uses sophisticated technologies or practices to avoid detection.o The offender shows an interest in images depicting extreme sexual conduct or veryyoung victims.o The offender exhibits extreme care building, maintaining, and categorizing hiscollection of child pornography.47See Appendix A, Operation Achilles.48 See Appendix A, Law Enforcement Operations.27