Online Child Pornography

Abstract

This chapter presents some challenges faced by the police in identifying child pornography images. In particular, three main problems will be discussed throughout this chapter. The first lies in deciding whether an image is explicit enough to be considered pornographic. The second issue lies in determining whether the victim is a child or someone who appears to be a child. A final challenge concerns how to deal with sexually explicit images produced by someone who is a child themselves. It will be argued that despite emerging investigative and forensic methods, the decision-making process engaged in by police officers still presents some specific challenges. These aspects will be discussed through an analysis of semi-structured interviews with 23 French police officers and forensic analysts working in departments specialising in policing cybercrime and online child sexual abuse.