Child sex ring
{{Short description|Group of people involved sexually with multiple minors}}
A child sex ring is a group of adults who are simultaneously involved sexually with multiple minors during the same general time frame.{{cite journal |last1=Wild |first1=N. J. |date=1 April 1989 |title=Prevalence of Child Sex Rings |journal=Pediatrics |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=553–558 |doi=10.1542/peds.83.4.553 |pmid=2927996 |s2cid=8886396}} The dynamics of these rings differ from those of more common one-on-one intrafamilial cases in that they are more organized and ran over a long period of time.{{cite book |title=Understanding and Investigating Child Sexual Exploitation |date=1997 |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzS4PalFulcC |language=en}} Commercialization and group sex are not necessarily present.{{cite web |title=Child Sex Rings: A Behavioral Analysis {{!}} Office of Justice Programs |url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/child-sex-rings-behavioral-analysis |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=www.ojp.gov}}
Synonyms
They are also referred to as pedophile rings,{{cite news |last1=Massie |first1=Alex |title=The Child Sex Ring Around Westminster's Neck |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/29/the-child-sex-ring-around-westminsters-neck-pedophilia-scandal-britain/ |access-date=5 January 2024 |work=foreignpolicy |date=July 29, 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Magramo |first1=Kathleen |title=Dozens arrested over alleged child sex abuse following murder of two FBI agents |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/08/australia/australia-child-abuse-arrests-rescue-fbi-agents-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=5 January 2024 |agency=CNN |date=August 8, 2023}} pedophile networks, pedophile cells, paedophile gangs,{{cite news |title=Child sex ring man sent to jail |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6940150.stm |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=10 August 2007}} grooming gangs (in British English) and child abuse rings.{{cite news |title=Child abuse ring victims suffered 'horrific ordeal' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-67416265 |access-date=5 January 2024 |work=bbc |date=14 November 2023}}
Prevalence
In 1989, a study{{cite journal |last1=Harkins |first1=Leigh |last2=Dixon |first2=Louise |title=Sexual offending in groups: An evaluation |journal=Aggression and Violent Behavior |date=March 2010 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=87–99 |doi=10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.006|url=http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/files/10614787/Final_Harkins_Dixon_Sex_Offending_in_Groups_post_print_copy.pdf }} indicated 31 child sex rings identified by police within a geographically separated population of 710,000 during two years in UK. In the two years, they accounted for 4.6% of all reported child sexual abuse. Forty-seven male offenders aged 16 to 82 years and 334 victims aged 4 to 15 were involved. The offenders usually operated in pairs or alone. Three of the rings were becoming semicommercial. Some children acted as victim recruiters for the offenders in 22 rings. The recruiters usually receive the money. The reported abuse included masturbation and fondling in 30 rings, oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse in 21 rings, as well as production of child pornography in 2 rings.
Offenders and the mode of operation
Child sex rings operate like pipelines. New members are regularly recruited, seduced, abused, and later 'dumped'. They often involve educational or recreational organizations where they can be recruited and seduced. The seduction often involves acts of kindness and giving gifts to the victims to lower their inhibitions and to gain their cooperation and trust. One of the factors that facilitates the recruitment of children is peer pressure from observing the behavior of other children participating in the ring.{{cite journal |last1=Breger |first1=Melissa |title=Stemming the Tide: Social Norms and Child Sex Trafficking |journal=Dickinson Law Review |date=1 October 2021 |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=135 |url=https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlr/vol126/iss1/6 |issn=2574-2604}} The offenders tend to be from a higher socio-economic background, as running a child sex ring requires high interpersonal skills and economic resources. It often means a financial loss for the offenders.
Notable cases
See also
References
External links
{{wiktionary|pedophile ring}}
- [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/paedophile-ring Paedophile ring], Cambridge Dictionary
{{Pedophilia}}