Do females known for online child sexual exploitation differ from males? Group characteristics and recidivism

By Erika Fortunato, Reneta Slikboer, Marie Henshaw, Denny Meyer and James RP Oglof

Abstract | Despite increasing research on online child sexual exploitation, limited research compares female and male perpetrators. This study examined 116 females and 116 age-matched males known to police for online child sexual exploitation on group characteristics and risk of reoffending. Some differences emerged, with females co-offending and experiencing violent victimisation more often thanmales. However, several similarities were also apparent, including that females and males had similar risk of recidivism. These findings have implications for policy and highlight several important avenues for future research.