Presentations
Melissa
STROEBEL
Thorn
Presentation:
State of the Issue - Evolving Threats: AI, Monetization, and Expanding Extortion Tactics
This presentation provides essential insights into the swiftly changing technological threats to children, drawing on research involving 1,200 young people aged 13-20, interviews with law enforcement, and analysis of discussions among dark web offenders. As exploitation techniques develop at an extraordinary pace, law enforcement and child safety experts need up-to-date information to guide effective responses and allocate resources efficiently.
This session will share data highlighting the current scale and characteristics of four critical and rapidly evolving risk areas:
AI-Generated Abuse Images: Present statistics on the prevalence and methods of creation to assist investigators in tackling this prominent threat.
Peer-to-Peer Digital Harm: Insights into the blurred boundaries of youth interactions with generative AI technologies, resulting in peer-on-peer deepfake abuse and bullying.
Content Monetization by Minors: New statistics indicating that about 1 in 3 young people have participated in commodified sexual engagements online, not exclusively with adults they’ve found online. Nearly half of the respondents reported that this experience involved a peer or classmate.
Evolving Sexual Extortion Tactics: Updated statistics on the occurrence of sexual extortion and the various demands faced by victims. Alongside the rising cases of financial sextortion orchestrated by foreign criminal groups, 1 in 3 victims report being extorted by acquaintances, frequently former partners or trusted adults.
Open Access
Presentation Two:
Beyond the Stranger: Youth Perspectives on Sexual Extortion Patterns Informing Investigations and Prevention
This presentation unveils comprehensive findings from Thorn's survey of 1,200 individuals aged 13-20, offering law enforcement and child safety professionals a data-driven taxonomy of sexual extortion offender patterns that can enhance investigation strategies and recidivism prevention.
This session will explore three distinct offender typologies, each requiring specialized investigative approaches:
Organized Criminal Networks: Coordinated groups primarily motivated by financial gain, operating with systematic targeting methods and standardized exploitation scripts. Worryingly, similar patterns are emerging surrounding violent online groups using organized tactics to extort minors, often demanding victims self-harm or commit other acts of violence.
Adults in Positions of Trust: The data reminds us of the use of sexual extortion tactics in abuse and manipulation by adults in positions of trust in victim's offline communities. These high-risk offenders demonstrate calculated grooming sequences, leverage institutional access, and frequently exhibit repeat offending behaviors.
Relationship-Based Exploitation: Beyond stranger danger narratives, our research quantifies the significant proportion of cases involving known perpetrators, including current or former romantic partners. This category demonstrates distinct threat patterns that complicate digital evidence collection and victim disclosure.
This session provides investigators with concrete intelligence to rapidly identify case typology, prioritize resources, and implement appropriate intervention strategies. By understanding the operational patterns and motivational differences between these offender categories, law enforcement can develop more targeted approaches to disrupt exploitation networks, identify potential serial offenders, and reduce risk across the spectrum of child sexual extortion.