Internet-related child sexual abuse: What children tell us in their testimonies

Communication technologies are an essential part of our daily social life; however, they also result in a rapid increase in the phenomenon of child sexual abuse through the Internet. Studies that were conducted on this issue mainly focused on the offenders' profile and prevention strategies.The aim of the current paper is to characterize the narratives of alleged victims of child sexual abuse using the testimonies of twenty children who were referred to investigative interviews following suspected sexual abuse through the Internet. Of these twenty children, eight children were reluctant to provide allegations even though external evidence indicated a high possibility that abuse had occurred. Twelve other children provided narratives in response to open-ended invitations.Intensive thematic analysis revealed five key categories: the suspect's grooming process, the offline meeting, "he can do anything", the secret, and the dynamic between the children and the interviewers. The conclusions of the study indicated the emotional state of the children, the dynamic with the perpetrators and its uniqueness, the clinical and the forensic process and prevention.