Looking Beyond the Screen: A Critical Review of the Literature on the Online Child Pornography Offender

• Published in: Sexual abuse Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 416 - 445
• Main Authors: Henshaw, Marie, Ogloff, James R. P., Clough, Jonathan A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2017; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Child; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child pornography; Children; Criminal Psychology; Erotica - psychology; Humans; Internet; Literature reviews; Male; Pedophilia - classification; Pedophilia - psychology; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Sex offenders; Sex Offenses - classification; Sex Offenses - psychology; Treatment programs; online sexual offending; risk factors; child pornography; Internet; treatment needs
• ISSN: 1079-0632; 1573-286X
• DOI: 10.1177/1079063215603690

This article reviews the current literature pertaining to those who engage in child pornography offending. The basic characteristics of online child pornography offenders (CPOs) and related typologies are briefly presented prior to reviewing the comparative literature pertaining to CPOs and child contact sexual offenders. In general, CPOs have been found to be relatively high functioning and generally pro-social individuals with less extensive and diverse offending histories than contact offenders. CPOs also display high levels of sexual pre-occupation, deviant sexual interests, and deficits in interpersonal and affective domains that surpass those of contact offenders. Although further research is required to replicate and clarify preliminary findings, the available evidence indicates that existing sexual offender risk assessment tools and treatment programs are not suitable for use with CPOs, and thus require revision and empirical evaluation prior to widespread use among this population. The article concludes with implications for clinical practice and directions for future research.