International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

CHARACTERISTICS OF A FICTITIOUS CHILD VICTIM: TURNING A SEX OFFENDER'S DREAMS INTO HIS WORST NIGHTMARE
By James M. McLaughlin

Download the Paper in PDF Format: IJCLP Web-Doc 6-Cy-2004

Abstract

There have been more criminal offenses involving the possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography in the past decade than at any time in history. Sex offenders have exploited the ease of using home computers, peripheral devices and the Internet; computers and the Internet are now recognized means by which sex offenders can seek out and lure child victims. The Internet has afforded sex offenders contact with child victims whom they otherwise would not be able to access. Law enforcement has responded to the public outcry for greater law enforcement presence and intervention on the Internet, recognizing the threat this new technology poses to children.
Both the United States Congress and many individual states have responded by enacting new statutes and modifying old laws to deal with this relatively new and growing danger. Law enforcement has in turn increased its undercover presence on the Internet, while also developing innovative procedures and techniques to detect and successfully prosecute online offenders.
The goals of this article are twofold: first, to present a depiction of the “perfect victim” using research and the author’s own experience; and, second, to suggest methods by which law enforcement personnel can more effectively apprehend child sex offenders on the Web.

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