Chapter 12
Sex Offenders on the Internet
On completion of this chapter, the students will:
– Be aware of the reasons why the Internet is attractive to sex offenders.
– Recognize that sexual abuse and illegal pornography existed long before the Internet.
– Recognize that computers, networks, and the Internet can be used to reveal sex offender
methods.
– Be aware that the most common sex offenses on the Internet include:
– Be aware that there are restrictions on releasing child pornography to the defense.
– Recognize that private sector security personnel can face both legal and corporate issues
in carrying out their duties.
– Be aware of the risks when private citizens mount undercover operations.
– Recognize the value in analyzing sexual offenders.
– Recognize the value of looking for offender patterns.
– Recognize the value of victim behavioral analysis.
– Recognize the value of determining how a victim is chosen.
Forensic examiners need to be aware that they may be requested to find a particular piece of
evidence, or find evidence that confirms an investig
job. Examiners find the truth, regardless of its convenience.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following is a reason the Internet is attractive to sex offenders?
2. Which of the following is an impact of sex offender peer support groups?
3. Which of the following are reasons that digital evidence may not be preserved properly or
at all?
4. The reconstruction process becomes a necessity when:
5. When the offender is unknown, the reconstruction process becomes a necessary step to:
6. Detailed knowledge of an offender can help investigators:
7. Victimology can help determine:
8. offenders, which of the following is NOT a
characteristic of the situational category?
9. The process of correlating evidence through temporal, relational, and functional analysis
is known as:
10. and actions taken are referred to as:
11. Failure to interpret evidence, obtain information from an unknown offender, or
apprehend an unknown offender can be caused by:
12. Typically, children are not used in undercover investigations because:
13. One of the risks that private citizens take in luring online predators is that:
14. rge number of contacts, a good solution is:
15. One way that a digital examiner can reduce the likelihood of overlooking or
misinterpreting important details is:
True or False Questions
1. The Internet enables sexual offenders to commit a crime without ever physically
assaulting a victim.
2. Sex offender peer support groups can give offenders access to child pornography,
children, and technical knowledge.
3. Generalizations regarding investigations are of particular use, even though cases tend to
be unique.
4. It is important to stress that sexual abuse and illegal pornography did not exist before the
Internet.
5. xual offender gains control over victims.
6. Because sex offenders tend to be nonviolent, investigators do not need to take the same
precautions when serving warrants on computer-related offenses as they would with other
crimes.
7. When dealing with online sexual offenders, it is critically important to take advantage of
the Internet as a source of evidence.
8. Given the potential for concealment in sex offender cases, it is important to examine all
digital evidence carefully rather than simply searching for a obvious items such as images
that are not hidden.
9. Confronting the victim with evidence of their abuse is standard practice in sex offender
cases.
10. The initial stage of any investigation is to determine if a crime has actually occurred.
11. The practice of private citizens luring offenders is not recommended for reasons of safety
and inadvertent violation of the law.
12. An accepted method of conducting undercover investigations involves using a minor,
especially if the minor is the victim.
13. thod of approach, attack, or control may
help investigators interact with an offender or provide potential victims with protective
advice.
14. Lanning identifies three general categories of sex offenders: situational, preferential, and
differential.
15. Sex offenders do not change over time nor do they modify their behavior, simplifying the
investigative process.
Essay Questions
1. Discuss the responsibility of the digital investigator in bringing charges of sex offense
or possession of child pornography against a member of the local community.
Scenario
You, as a member of local law enforcement, were contacted by a member of a cyber
vigilante group, informing you that they have been gathering information about an
individual in your community who, they assert, has been downloading large amounts of
child pornography. They provide samples of the types of child pornography that the
sender individual has supposedly downloaded.