Men in Australia, UK and USA who report online sexual offending behaviours against children also report being 2 - 3 times more likely to seek sexual contact with children between the ages of 10 – 12 years old if they were certain no one would find out

This study is the first survey employing a general representative sample of men to ask about their online behaviours including sexual offending against children. The research measured the prevalence of offending, risk behaviours and attitudes amongst a weighted sample of 1,945 Australian, 1,473 UK and 1,506 US men over 18 years of age.

Men who reported online child sex offending behaviours were significantly more likely to use privacy software and to watch violent pornography, bestiality, and purchase online sexual content from adults.

UK males who reported online sexual offending behaviours against children were 17 times more likely to also report watching bestiality pornography and 5.7 times more likely to also purchase adult pornography online than men who did not report sexual offending against children. There is also increased risk across the other two nations for more violent pornographic consumption among these men. 

Men who reported that they already have committed sexually offending behaviours against children at some point in their life were also twice as likely to use any privacy software for their online activities than men who did not report any online sexual offending against children.
This survey in Australia, the UK and the US shows that men who reported sexually offending against children online self-report being in denial that there is anything wrong with their abusive behaviours and are at an increased risk of diffusing blame onto others.

Men were asked questions from the Child Sexual Abuse Myth scale to find out their beliefs around child sexual abuse. When controlling for age, employment, and residential location, those who already reported that they had engaged in sexual offending online at some point in their lives were between 1.2 to 3.8 times more likely to endorse denial, blame diffusion and restrictive stereotypical beliefs. Men in the UK who reported some sort of sexual offending online behaviour in the past against children were more likely to adhere to denial of abusiveness beliefs than men who did not report offending in any of the countries.

This study provides important data to better understand attitudes and behaviours in a general sample of men around online sexual offending against children. This points to the urgent need for increased prevention efforts for men who report sexual interest in children (such as through hotlines) to increased regulation of online spaces as well as awareness raising of the harms against children, families and wider society of online sexual offending against children.

This representative survey in Australia, the UK and the US shows that men who sexually offend against children online self-report being in denial that there is anything wrong with their abusive behaviours and are at an increased risk of diffusing blame onto others.

Men were asked questions from the Child Sexual Abuse Myth scale to find out their beliefs around child sexual abuse. When controlling for age, employment, and residential location, those who already reported that they had engaged in sexual offending online at some point in their lives were between 1.2 to 3.8 times more likely to endorse denial, blame diffusion and restrictive stereotypical beliefs. Men in the UK who reported some sort of sexual offending online behaviour in the past against children were more likely to adhere to denial of abusiveness beliefs than men who did not report offending in any of the countries.

This study provides important data to better understand attitudes and behaviours in a general sample of men around online sexual offending against children. This points to the urgent need for increased prevention efforts for men who report sexual interest in children (such as through hotlines) to increased regulation of online spaces as well as awareness raising of the harms against children, families and wider society of online sexual offending against children.