ABSTRACT
Many paedophiles enter child-orientated chat rooms portraying themselves as a young person, giving a false name, age and gender, and on occasions sending or displaying photographs of the young person they are claiming to be. Paedophiles with the intention of making contact and establishing relationships with children via the Internet will access one or more of the thousands of Internet chat rooms which are specifically maintained for the interest of children. Some of the most ‘respected’ paedophiles distribute thousands of still images, video and audio clips, depicting some of the most disturbing, terrorising, perverse and debased behaviour towards children that one could possibly imagine. The chapter explains ‘abuser’ which is used when referring to people who choose to use the Internet as a medium for contacting, manipulating and grooming children immorally and illegally. An Internet-connected computer can provide access to innumerable ‘personal’ or ‘company’ websites that offer child sexual abuse images.
