Toolkit topic: Grooming of children for sexual abuse

The following guidance has been issued by the Home Office.

"Online environments have proved to be very attractive to child sex abusers who have exploited them to contact, "groom" and abuse children. "Grooming" is a process by which a child abuser seeks to prepare a child for later abuse.

Thinkuknow FAQS on Grooming

Many child abusers use public interactive spaces to find and meet children. Abusers use a range of techniques to make contact and befriend children. This can include the following examples:

• suggestions that a child leave a public chat room and move to private one-to-one communication such as Instant Messaging;
• asking for personal details: name; address; telephone number; mobile number; name of school or a photograph;
• asking where the home computer is located and/or about parental supervision of Internet use;
• offering the opportunities of modelling;
• meetings with pop idols or celebrities;
• offering cheap tickets to sports or pop concerts;
• offering material gifts including electronic gifts such as games, music or software;
• quick and easy ways to make money;
• seeming eager to meet up offline;
• encouraging a child to share or talk about any difficulties they may be experiencing, such as bullying or difficult relationships, and offering a sympathetic and supportive response;
• bullying and intimidating behaviour such as threatening to expose the child by contacting their parents to inform them of their child's behaviour in the interactive service, and
• telling the child that they know how to locate them, where they live, or where they go to school.

Other "grooming" behaviours may be difficult to identify, since communication that forms part of "grooming" may appear perfectly ordinary and innocent."

One typical example where innocent adults may also put themselves at risk is through the role of e-moderator. Anyone who offers online support or monitors the use of online activity may be defined as an e-moderator. This is a role that is becoming increasingly important as online learning grows in its use. It is essential that anyone who may play a role as an e-moderator, however briefly, be CRB checked.

Last Modified: 19/01/2012 09:39:01
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