Sexual offenders contacting children online: An examination of transcripts of sexual grooming
Abstract
The present study investigated transcripts of adults sexually grooming decoy victims on the Internet. One hundred transcripts were coded for offender characteristics, victim characteristics, and dynamics of the conversation. The results revealed that all of the offenders were male, most of whom believed they were communicating with an adolescent female. The sexual intentions of the offenders were made clear, with the majority introducing sexual content early on into the conversation. The length of the contact ranged from one day to nearly one year, suggesting that the duration of the online grooming process may vary significantly. The majority of offenders also communicated with the decoy victim over the telephone and attempted to arrange an in-person meeting, many within short periods of time. Implications for prevention and future research are discussed.
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Most online sexual solicitations follow a rather blunt and direct approach where the sexual intent of the offender becomes apparent very early in the process.
“The possibility to speed up the process of SOG in online environments leads to the paradoxical finding that most online sexual solicitations follow a rather blunt and direct approach where the sexual intent of the offender becomes apparent very early in the process (Winters et al. [2017] report introduction of sexual content in the first 30 minutes of child decoy SOG transcripts in 69% of cases”
From 3.2 Sexual Online Grooming of Children – A Short Overview of the Offender Literature (2025) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
Some sexually abusive behaviors, such as the exchange of explicit material, may also serve ongoing grooming purposes.
“Some sexually abusive behaviors, such as the exchange of explicit material, may also serve ongoing grooming purposes, further complicating efforts to separate these processes both conceptually and in research (Mooney & Ost, 2013; Winters & Jeglic, 2017).”
From Unraveling the Complexities of Offender Strategies as Part of Online Sexual Grooming and Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Winters & Jeglic, 2017
Other studies found that some individuals who engaged in OSG behaviors promptly sexualized interactions with victims, while others spent time developing trusting relationships through affection and praise, introducing sexualization more gradually.
“This is further supported by other studies that found that some of those who engaged in OSG behaviors promptly sexualized interactions with victims, while others spent time developing trusting relationships with them through affection and praise, introducing sexualization more gradually (Chiu & Quayle, 2022; Henshaw etal., 2020; Winters & Jeglic, 2017).”
From Unraveling the Complexities of Offender Strategies as Part of Online Sexual Grooming and Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Winters & Jeglic, 2017
Differing use of strategies or type of approach may be explained by offender motivation.
“It is possible that the differing use of strategies, or type of approach, may be explained by offender motivation (Briggs et al., 2011; Gottschalk, 2011; Winters et al., 2017).”
From Unraveling the Complexities of Offender Strategies as Part of Online Sexual Grooming and Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
Interactions with decoys have identified different offender motivations: some aim to arrange an offline meeting to sexually abuse what they believe to be a child, while others aim to use the online contact for cybersex and masturbation.
“When it comes to online contact, interactions with decoys have identified different offender motivations.Some aim to arrange an offline meeting to sexually abuse what they believe to be a child (Lorenzo-Dus et al., 2016;Winters et al., 2017), while others aim to use the online contact for cybersex and masturbation (DeHart et al., 2017).”
From Offender strategies for engaging children in online sexual activity (2021) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
Later research has shown that sexual intentions are often clear early in the conversation.
“By contrast, later research has shown that sexual intentions are often clear early in the conversation (Winters et al., 2017).”
From Offender strategies for engaging children in online sexual activity (2021) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
Some offenders in this study invested a lot of time and effort in building a relationship with the child.
“In line with previous research (Winters et al., 2017), some offenders in our study invested a lot of time and effort in building a relationship with the child.”
From Offender strategies for engaging children in online sexual activity (2021) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
Winters et al. (2017) report introduction of sexual content in the first 30 minutes of child decoy SOG transcripts in 69% of cases they examined.
“(Winters et al. [2017] report introduction of sexual content in the first 30 minutes of child decoy SOG transcripts in 69% of cases they examined).”
From 3.2 Sexual Online Grooming of Children – A Short Overview of the Offender Literature (2025) · cites this paper as Winters et al., 2017
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3.2 Sexual Online Grooming of Children – A Short Overview of the Offender Literature
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- Authors
- Winters, G. M., Kaylor, L. E., & Jeglic, E. L.
- Affiliations
- The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
- Saint Louis University (US)
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice (US)
- Corresponding author
- Winters, Georgia M.
- Venue
- Journal of Sexual Aggression
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-01-02
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 62-76
- ISSN
- 1355-2600 (ISSN-L)
- 1742-6545
- OpenAlex
- W2577278960
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 10.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Sexual Aggression (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
- Keywords
- online sexual grooming, child sexual predators, offender characteristics, victim characteristics, conversational dynamics, sexual intention, telephone contact, prevention
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