"While the assessment may not make comfortable reading," commented CEOP chief executive Peter Davies, "that isn’t its purpose; it’s an objective assessment of the issues as we see them but as a result it is also, undoubtedly, a call to action."
The report outlines four key threats to children. Firstly, 'the proliferation of indecent images of children' (IIOC). CEOP finds relative stability in overall offender numbers, but "evidence of a migration away from more open methods of distribution to the hidden internet."
The 'hidden' internet, sometimes known as the dark net, is that part of the internet that cannot be found through the search engines. It is particularly difficult for law enforcement to patrol. Last year NBC News reported, "Citing an inability to infiltrate the Web's hidden underworld — the 'dark net' — the FBI halted a child pornography investigation..."
Secondly, 'online child sexual exploitation' (OCSE). The report notes that grooming is a part, but not all, of OCSE. Online grooming differs from offline grooming in the speed with which it progresses. Offline it tends to be slow and patient. But online, "the period of time between initial engagement with a child and an offending outcome is often extremely short." While the greater part of online grooming stays online, "such as deceiving children into producing indecent images of themselves or engaging in sexual chat or sexual activity over webcam," CEOP warns that it can also lead to offline offending.
Self-generated indecent imagery (SGII – or extreme 'sexting') is also included within this threat. Such material "remains unlikely to find its way into the hands of adult offenders," says the report, but may still "find its way onto the open internet" with sometimes serious consequences.
Thirdly, 'transnational child sexual abuse.' In the offline world this is sometimes known as 'sex tourism,' where the offender physically travels to a different country in order to offend. CEOP has recognized a new threat (under its indecent images section) that could equally apply here: "CEOP assesses that the live streaming of sexual abuse - particularly from the developing world carries a high composite risk in 2013."
An example was reported in Canada last week. It involved both physical travel between the offender and China, and live streaming via Skype. "In late 2010, Lévesque and the father used Skype to see each other and to chat while Lévesque watched and directed the sex acts the father performed on his son," reported The Province. The offender was sentenced to five years in prison.
Fourthly, 'contact child sexual abuse' (CSA). By definition this occurs offline, and CEOP says "more research needs to be done before any firm conclusions can be drawn." Nevertheless, it does conclude that "offending by lone perpetrators is significantly more prevalent than offending by groups or offending by those associated with street gangs."
“Events of the last year," said Davies, probably referring to the Jimmy Savile scandal, "show that interest in protecting children, both online and offline, has never been greater and we hope that sharing what we know with as many other people as possible will help make children safer."