New research could help protect children from potential predators. 

Experts at the University of South Australia have investigated the language and behaviours that online predators use to gain unacquainted children’s trust during opening chat sequences.

The research team is now working with the South Australian Police (SAPOL) to identify the typical and recurrent behaviour patterns used by offenders in both initial online contact and preliminary nonsexual interactions, using conversations with undercover police posing as children online.

The findings will be used to determine new linguistic indicators to help better monitor, identify and apprehend suspects.

“Online child exploitation is an ever-increasing concern. While previous studies have focussed on establishing offender profiles based on case file information, this research will help identify how predators gain children’s trust in the very early stages of online interaction” says UniSA researcher Dr Enza Tudini.

“For example, we may find that predators are using specific grooming language and behaviours to encourage children to move to ‘safer’ online spaces such as Snapchat, where their conversation leaves no record.

“By tracking and examining these online conversations we will deliver empirical information that can inform child protection authorities and contribute to educate children and protective adults on this type of online abuse.”

Data from eSafety - Australia’s national independent regulator for online safety - shows that one in four children (aged 8-12 years) and one in two teenagers (aged 13-17 years) have talked to a stranger online, with about 25 per cent of all young people having made friends with someone they met on the internet in the past year.

In 2020–21, eSafety recorded 14,494 child sexual abuse materials.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Lambert, Officer in Charge of Special Crimes Investigation Section says the research may help prevent online child abuse.

“Children are accessing the internet at a very young age, often unsupervised and spend long hours using electronic devices to socialise on the internet,” Detective Chief Inspector Lambert says.

“SAPOL is supportive of this type of research, which may assist investigators to identify online groomers and intervene at the earliest opportunity and may assist in preventing some instances of online child abuse.”