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Online grooming is the process by which an adult uses the Internet to initiate a dynamic of sexual persuasion and victimisation through online contact to obtain an encounter or sexual content from a minor. Although there is an abundant literature of attempts to define the risk factors for grooming, fewer studies have addressed the risk factors qualitatively through direct interviews with offenders, victims and experts. Further understanding such characteristics of the grooming process allows the development and improvement of evidence-based prevention programmes, designed to target specific risk factors. To deepen our understanding of how risk factors operate and how offenders exploit minors' vulnerabilities, the European H20201 project RAYUELA conducted 15 in-depth interviews with offenders, 8 with victims, and 23 with subjectmatter experts from different European countries. The results, based on a categorical content analysis, are consistent with previously reported risk factors for victims. Social isolation was revealed as the most relevant factor. The age of greatest risk is in adolescence due to the characteristics of this developmental stage, among which sexual curiosity stands out. In relation to gender, although girls receive more requests from groomers, boys are more likely to accept them, showing a different perception of the risk. Other relevant factors found non-heterosexual sexual orientation, and poor family communication. In addition, a high percentage of offenders were found to be from the victims' environment. Thus, a relevant conclusion is that risk factors cannot be separated from structural aspects of the offline reality, such as gender stereotypes and lack of sex education, so focusing on them in prevention may be more effective than addressing exclusively Internet aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are specific treatment programs in prisons for those convicted of sexually assaulting minors; however, those who also have pedophilia require specific attention. The aim of this study is twofold: first, to offer a specific intervention proposal for pedophilia in the prison setting based on the available scientific evidence, and complementary to the Sexual Assault Control Program, and second, to justify this proposal through the case of an inmate with pedophilia. Specifically, we propose an individual intervention focused on people with pedophilia; working on low self-esteem, assessing suicidal ideation, and restructuring cognitive distortions with minors, facilitating the creation of functional personal relationships with adults, assessing past polyvictimization and its possible influence on subsequent sexual behavior, providing inmates with psychoeducation on pedophilia; specifically addressing sexual fantasies with minors, avoiding dissexual behavior, and eliminating the consumption of abusive material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online grooming has increased along with the development of new technologies. To prevent it, we need to know the characteristics of offenders and victims, and the modus operandi. To do so, we analysed 20 Spanish court sentences (2017-2020 period). The sample is made up of 20 offenders (men, mean age = 35 years old) and 65 victims (46% girls, mean age = 14 years old). Although there was no homogeneous profile, in line with previous investigations, offenders were mostly unknown young men with no criminal records with a higher average age. The persuasion strategies that were found were similar with those of the literature but different by sex (deception and coercion girls, corruption boys). An offline meeting was suggested in 90% of the cases, being more accepted if the offender was known. Disability in the victims worked as a risk factor. In the discussion section we debunk myths, hoping to contribute with evidence-based material for further prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The main objective of this research is to study the relationships of offense-supportive cognitions and sexual fantasies with sex crime. The research involved 48 men: 26 convicted of sexual offenses against minors and 22 convicted of sexual offenses against adults from different prisons in the Community of Madrid, Spain. We used the RAPE Scale and the Sex With Children Scale to evaluate offense-supportive cognitions and an ad hoc adaptation of the Multidimensional Developmental, Sex and Aggression Inventory to evaluate sexual fantasies with minors and sadomasochistic fantasies. The results show that both groups present similar offense-supportive cognitions, while each group had significantly more sexual fantasies related to their specific crime. Participants who had sexual fantasies about minors presented significantly more offense-supportive cognitions justifying child sexual abuse than those who did not present these fantasies, while participants with sadomasochistic fantasies did not present more offense-supportive cognitions about rape. After collecting this information, we ran four mediation models to assess potential relationships between fantasies, offense-supportive cognitions, and specific sexual crime. The mediation models showed that both sexual fantasies with minors and sadomasochistic fantasies had direct relationships with sex crimes. Upon further confirmation with studies with larger sample sizes, our findings support the importance of dealing with sexual fantasies in treatment of people convicted of sexual offenses and imply a need for differentiated treatment, since the content of sexual fantasies was different in each group., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.