Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)

Definition

CSEC is characterized as any sexual activity involving a child in exchange for anything, or the promise of anything, of value. It includes everything from child trafficking to sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and the youth exploited are often those with a history of abuse, neglect, and missing or being absent from care.

The team “CSEC” is widely used among child-serving agencies in Massachusetts and other states, although it is not a legal term, per se.

In Massachusetts, CSEC is child abuse.

A ‘sexually exploited child’ is defined in MGH Chapter 119, Section 21: any person under the age of 18 who has been subjected to sexual exploitation because such person:

• Is the victim of the crime of sexual servitude pursuant to section 50 of chapter 265 or is the victim of sex trafficking as defined in 22 United States Code 7105
• Engages, agrees to engage or offers to engage in sexual conduct with another person in exchange for a fee, in violation of subsection (a) of section 53A of chapter 272, or in exchange for food, shelter, clothing, education or care
• Is a victim of the crime of inducing a minor into prostitution under section 4A of chapter 272, or
• Engages in common night walking or common streetwalking under section 53 of chapter 272

What is Child Sexual Abuse Material? (CSAM)

United States Federal Law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (a person less than 18 years old). Outside of the legal system, we choose to refer to these images as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) to move accurately reflect what is depicted – the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when these files are shared across the internet, child victims suffer revictimization each time the image of their sexual abuse is viewed. It’s important to remember CSAM consists of much more than just images and video files. While CSAM is seen and transmitted on computers and through other technologies, these images and videos depict actual crimes being committed against children.

(Source: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/csam)

What is Online Enticement?

Online enticement involves an individual communicating with someone believed to be a child via the internet with the intent to commit a sexual offense or abduction. This is a broad category of online exploitation and includes sextortion, in which a child is being groomed to take sexually explicit images and/or ultimately meet face-to-face with someone for sexual purposes,
or to engage in a sexual conversation online or, in some instances, to sell/trade the child’s sexual images. This type of victimization takes place across every platform; social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc.

What is Sextortion?

Sextortion is a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing with the public a nude or sexual image of them, by a person who demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money from the child. This crime may happen when a child has shared an image with someone they thought they knew or trusted, but in many cases they are targeted by an individual they met online who obtained a sexual image from the child through deceit, coercion, or some other method. In many cases, the blackmailers may have stolen or taken images of another person and they are communicating through a fake account. The blackmailer may have sent images as well.

Possible Signs

Physical

•  Found to be in an area known for “prostitution” (either physical areas or websites)
• Involved with overly controlling older youth and/or adults
• Involved with someone gang-involved
• Having expensive items with no known source of income (e.g. lashes,
  manicures, clothes, shoes, purses, etc.)
• Unexplained access to large amounts of cash, pre-paid credit cards or
  hotel keys
• History of multiple sexual transmitted infections (STIs), miscarriages
  and/or abortions
• Signs of physical abuse (e.g. burns, scars, bruises, etc.)
• Having a tattoo the youth is reluctant to explain
• History of substance abuse and/or substance dependency
• In possession of bulk sexual paraphernalia (e.g. condoms, lubricant)
• In possession of secret phone(s)
• References traveling to other cities or states while missing or lack of knowledge of their current whereabouts

Behavioral

• History of going missing from home/care or “running away”
  Trends show us that when children run away frequently or for long periods of time, they tend to be running from an unsafe situation or to an unsafe situation 
• Exhibiting signs of PTSD (e.g. exhaustion, hypervigilance, fear, etc.)
• Use of slang related to the “Life” or CSEC
• Appears to be frightened, annoyed, resistant and/or belligerent to authority figures
• Disconnected from family/friends/caregivers
• Disengaged from school/sports/community
• Significant changes in behavior (including online activity)
• Inconsistencies in information being reported
• Talk about being “taken care of”
• Lying about age and/or providing false identity

Red Flags for Online Enticement

The most common tactics used to entice children include:

• Engaging in sexual conversations/role-plying as a grooming method, rather than a goal
• Asking the child for sexually explicit images of themselves or mutually sharing images
• Developing a rapport through compliments, discussing shared interests or “liking” their online post, also known as grooming
• Sending or offering sexual explicit images of themselves
• Pretending to be younger
• Offering an incentive such as a gift card, alcohol, drugs, lodging, transportation or food

Risk Factors for Online Enticement

Certain online behaviors may increase the risk for online enticement and becoming a victim of sextortion. These behaviors include:

• Lying about being older in order to access certain platforms which would allow communication with older individuals
• Initiating online communication and/or offering an exchange with offenders, such as requesting financial compensation, alcohol/drugs, gifts, etc. For sexually explicit content of oneself
• Sending explicit photos or videos (known as “sexts”) of oneself to another user (Source: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/onlineenticement)

Red Flags for Sextortion

Those involved in the sextortion of children often:

•  Approach a child on social media after using it to learn about the child’s interests, friends, school, family, etc.
• Move quickly and ask for nudes immediately after following or friending a child on a social media platform
• Intentionally move their communication with the child from one online platform to another (e.g., moving from social media to private video chat or messaging apps).

These offenders may use tactics to coerce a child, including:

• Reciprocation (“I’ll show you, if you show me”)
• Pretending to work for a modeling agency to obtain sexual images of the child
• Developing a bond with the child by establishing a friendship/romantic relationship
• Using multiple false online identities to contact a child
• Pretending to be younger and/or a member of the opposite sex
• Accessing the child’s online account without authorization and stealing sexual images or videos of the child
• Threatening to create sexual images or videos of the child using digital-editing tools
  (Source: https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/sextortion)