Online child sexual exploitation and abuse: Criminal justice pathways of police-reported incidents in Canada, 2014 to 2020

Description: Online child sexual exploitation and abuse encompasses a broad range of behaviors, including those related to child sexual abuse material, sexting materials, sextortion, grooming and luring, live child sexual abuse streaming and made-to-order content. Building on a previously published article focusing on the prevalence, trends and characteristics of police-reported online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Canada, the current article focuses on the pathways of these incidents through the justice system. Using linked data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and the Integrated Criminal Court Survey, the current article examines criminal justice outcomes of online child sexual exploitation and abuse incidents that were reported to police between 2014 and 2020, focusing on how incidents progressed to court, and their court outcomes.

Issue Number: 2023001