Child abuse on the internet : is the Malta Police Force well equipped to combat it?

Abstract

The internet, apart from revolutionising the communication, business, information, and entertainment sectors has also revolutionised crime. Since the internet's inception various crime forms have emerged which utilise the internet, one of which is child abuse and paedophilia. The internet has changed how people commit child abuse, and in doing so it has made this crime less understandable by society. The shortage of research on internet child abuse has also contributed to this lack of understanding. With the help of interviews, this study investigates whether the Malta Cyber Crime Unit is prepared to tackle the crime of internet child abuse by comparing its strategies to those employed and envisioned by foreign cyber crime units and scholars working within this area. Drawing strength from existing literature, the author conducts empirical research to discover what has been done by academics and organisations in order to better understand this crime type. The study also investigates the prevalence of online child groomers and the vulnerability of children on the internet by examining chat room transcripts between the author, posing as a twelve-year old girl, and several Maltese adults who take on a specific interest in the girl. The findings emerging from this analysis as well as the comparison of the interviews, and their implications are discussed. A number of issues are identified where further research is needed.