A taxonomy of groomer profiles: Comparisons of in-person, online, and mixed groomers through the examination of Canadian judicial decisions

Sexual grooming in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) has captured the attention of researchers over the past decades. While early research focused on offenders who groomed children in person, our knowledge of online groomers has begun to increase. However, there has not been a concomitant increase in understanding of groomers who use both in-person and online grooming strategies (i.e., mixed groomers); it is not clear if mixed groomers more closely resemble in-person groomers, online groomers, or if they are their own distinct groomer type. The current study creates the first taxonomy of in-person, online, and mixed groomer profiles through the empirical analysis of Canadian judicial decisions. 180 Canadian judicial decisions from 153 cases of CSA involving grooming were extracted from the Canadian Legal Information Institute and coded for information related to grooming strategies, the accused, the complainant, and the alleged offence. Mixed groomers used more grooming strategies per case than in-person and online groomers. Mixed groomers initiated contact online with complainants less often than online groomers, but identified more vulnerable victims, engaged in more non-sexual yet inappropriate conversations, and used more gain cooperation strategies than in-person groomers. Online groomers were older and had shorter delays to criminal proceedings than mixed and in-person groomers. Complainants groomed in person were younger and abused for longer durations than mixed and online complainants. The proposed taxonomy of groomer profiles can inform education and prevention programs about the heterogeneous nature of grooming. Those who groomed children in-person, online, or using a mixture of both methods varied greatly in their grooming strategies, victim age preferences, relationship to the child, and pathways to disclosure.