A Descriptive Study of Psychosocial Characteristics and Offense Patterns in Females with Online Child Pornography Offenses

Abstract

Despite a growing body of literature on females who sexually offend, there is a dearth of research on online sexual offending in women. This study collected descriptive psychosocial and offense conduct data on 98 females convicted of online sexual offenses housed in United States federal prisons. Psychosocial history results demonstrated that 60% of the subjects reported a history of sexual abuse (n ¼ 59), while 46% reported physical abuse (n ¼ 45). In addition, 47% reported a history of outpatient mental health treatment (n ¼ 46), and 15% reported prior inpatient mental health treatment (n ¼ 15). The majority (n ¼ 70) of the women's offenses involved the victimization of accessible minors to produce child pornography for distribution on the Internet, most often in association with a male cooffender. Typically, the subject's child was the victim and the focus of the child pornography. Contact offending frequently (n ¼ 39) occurred in the context of the production of child pornography. The implications of these findings, especially regarding the role that women play in the creation and distribution of child pornography, are discussed as well as important directions for future research.

Crime commission processes in child sexual abuse material production and distribution: a systematic review

“…There are also overlaps between offenders who produce and/or distribute CSAM and those who engage in contact (sexual) offending (Bickart et al 2019;Bissias et al 2016;Bouhours & Broadhurst 2011;Gewirtz-Meydan et al 2018;McManus et al 2015;Shelton et al 2016;Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell & Jones 2011). McManus and colleagues (2015) found that CSAM offenders (ie producers, distributors, and distributors/possessors) who had previously committed a sexual offence against a child were over seven times more likely to have produced CSAM than those with no previous history of contact sexual offences.…”

“…For some offenders, contact sexual abuse represents a necessary part of the CSAM production process (see Bickart et al 2019;Gewirtz-Meydan et al 2018;McManus et al 2015;Sheehan & Sullivan 2010). However, some producers of CSAM do so strictly online through the use of webcams, and thus do not themselves perpetrate contact sexual abuse (McManus et al 2015).…”

“…Nonetheless, a majority of victims (93%) in the study by Gewirtz-Meydan et al (2018) reported that they experienced sexual molestation as part of the CSAM production process. Bickart et al (2019) found that in some cases involving female perpetrators there was no direct physical contact with the victim (eg recording of CSAM-related images and videos), whereas in others contact sex offences occurred.…”

“…The production of CSAM most often occurs in a context where the victim is known to the offender (Bickart et al 2019;Gewirtz-Meydan et al 2018;Prat et al 2014;Sheehan & Sullivan 2010;Shelton et al 2016;Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell & Jones 2011). Gewirtz-Meydan and colleagues (2018) found that in more than half (52%) of cases analysed the offender was a family member of the victim, and in 41 percent of cases the offender was an acquaintance.…”

“…In a study of female online CSAM offenders by Bickart et al (2019), close to three-quarters (71%) of the 70 CSAM production cases analysed involved a victim who was the offender's child, and over three-quarters involved a male co-offender (77%). Prat and colleagues' ( 2014) qualitative examination of two case studies of female sex offenders showed their engagement in child sexual abuse, including CSAM production, was motivated by a desire to appease their partners and keep them sexually satisfied.…”