COMP47640

Please note this module is only available to active law enforcement students registered to the MSc in Forensic Computing and Cybercrime Investigation. There are no elective or audit places available to other programmes.

Child sexual abuse is a societal issue that has serious implications for children and society and is therefore acknowledged as a serious crime. In the UK alone 1 in 20 children have been sexually abused. It is a complex and difficult crime type with many taboos, myths and untruths associated with it. Within Policing it is a specialised area due to the aforementioned societal nature of the crime but also because it requires specialised skills especially in knowledge, interviewing techniques and particular investigative practise.

Sexual abuse of children has always existed in one form or another but has, like a lot of other areas, been revolutionised by ICT. The internet has opened up opportunities for non-contact sex offending, such as the viewing of child pornography. Distribution of CSAM (both commercial and non-commercial), Grooming, live streaming child sexual abuse, and sexual extortion are also of offending Police are now seeing in their daily work as legislation improves around the world.

This course is a standalone module covering all aspects of the exploitation of children online (and understanding offline related offending) that will equip students to deal with the ever increasing level of crime in this area.