ABSTRACT
Statistics show a sharp rise in the number of sexual predators who prowl the Internet looking for vulnerable children, then make arrangements to meet the child for sex (Andrews, 2000). ›e Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) calls these criminals travelers. ›e numbers are hard to document, but travelers are clearly part of the Internet-era crime wave. According to a CBS News report, the FBI alone opens up six new traveler investigations every week (Andrews, 2000). ›is same report indicated that the Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives about 15 new leads about online enticements each week, and a traveler is arrested somewhere in the United States almost every day. A disturbing number of recent traveler cases involve men who are rst-time oŠenders with no criminal history of sexual activity toward minors. Some high-prole cases include Patrick Naughton, a top executive at Infoseek/Go.com; Terry Spontarelli, a Los Alamos research chemist; and George DeBier, a former Belgian diplomat (Andrews, 2000). ›eir proles were similar: men who held upper-income jobs and were
Introduction 53 Internet Sexuality 54 A Case Study Methodology 56
Results 57 ›e Addiction Perspective 57 Discovery 57 Exploration 58 Escalation 59 Compulsivity 60 Hopelessness 61
Conclusion 62 References 63
otherwise law-abiding citizens but who were arrested for traveling to meet an undercover agent posing as a minor on the Internet.
