current levels of access have on offending profiles, including age. Research in the United States, for instance, on convicted child sexual abuse material offenders between the years 2000 and 2005 found that a higher proportion of adult offenders were ages 18 to 25 than in previous research.208 Nonetheless, with this effect in mind, analysis of data on 103 male subjects who had been arrested for using peer-topeer technology to download or transmit child sexual abuse material indicates that the average age of offenders was 41, with a range of 15 to 73 years of age.209 Married or cohabiting offenders tended to be older (age 50 on average) than those who were single (age 35 on average).210 Research on adolescent child sexual exploiters and abusers is becoming increasingly important. In a study of male adolescent sexual abuse conduct, researchers found that male offenders exhibited relatively high levels of drug and alcohol abuse, behaviour problems, and histories of delinquency. Research also suggests that they may less commonly have histories of sexual abuse victimization than their older counterparts. Female adolescent sexual abusers are thought to represent approximately five to ten per cent of all juvenile abusers.211 Alarmingly however, female youth perpetrators tend to choose younger victims and to be more often involved in incidents involving multiple victims.212 Regarding cyberbullying, research suggests that the prime age for such aggressive behaviour is approximately 10 to Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K., 2011. P. 28. UNODC, 2013. P. 43-44. 210 Ibid. 211 See e.g. Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Chaffin, M. 2009. “Juveniles who commit sex offences against minors”, U.S. Department of Justice Juvenile Justice Bulletin; Lane, S., LobanovRostovsky, C., Special populations. In Ryan, G., Lane, S. (eds.), 1997. Juvenile sexual offending. Pp. 322–359; see generally van der Put, C. E., 2013. 212 Van der Put, C. E., 2013. P. 691. 208 209 13 years.213 Though less common, adults are also known to engage in cyberbullying of children.214 Other demographic characteristics Research on other demographic characteristics has focused primarily on child sexual abuse material offenders. Perpetrator studies in North America suggest that child sexual abuse material offenders are mostly white and reasonably well educated.215 Research on the marital status of child sexual abuse material offenders finds that a large portion of offenders— approximately 45 per cent—is single, another 28 per cent is married, and the remaining 27 per cent is divorced or separated.216 The fact that child sexual abuse material offenders generally have comparatively high levels of education may correlate to offenders’ comfort with and sophistication in the use of technology.217 Studies also indicate a possible association between contact offenders and experience of childhood emotional, physical or sexual abuse, as well as insecure parental attachments.218 In one recent study, researchers concluded that both online and offline abusers are more likely to have themselves 213 Wade, A., Beran, T., 2011. “Cyberbullying: The New Era of Bullying”, Canadian Journal of School Psychology 26: 44-61. 214 In a 2006 United States case [United States v. Drew, 259 F.R.D. 449 (C.D. Cal. 2009)], the mother of a 13-year-old girl cyberbullied her daughter’s classmate, resulting in the suicide of the child victim. The mother assumed the identity of a teen boy on a social networking site and then (virtually) courted the victim. The perpetrator suddenly then changed the tone of the communication and began tormenting the victim, even suggesting that the world would be a better place without her. Social network members has contributed to the bullying by posting derogatory comments. The victim replied that, “you’re the kind of a boy that a girl would kill herself over”, and then committed suicide. Charged with multiple counts of computer fraud, the perpetrator was only convicted of a single minor offence which was subsequently set aside on a motion for acquittal. 215 Wortley, R., Smallbone, S., 2006. Situational Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. 216 Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K.J., Wolak, J. 2005. Online Victimization: What Youth Tell Us. In Cooper, S.W., et al. (eds.), 2005. Medical, Legal, and Social Science Aspects of Child Sexual Exploitation: A Comprehensive Review of Pornography, Prostitution, and Internet Crimes. Pp. 437-467. 217 Ibid. 218 Craissati, J., McClurg, G., Browne, K., 2002. “The Parental Bonding Experiences of Sex Offenders: A Comparison Between Child Molesters and Rapists”, Child Abuse and Neglect 26:909-921; Simons, D. A., Wurtele, S., Durham, R., 2008. “Developmental experiences of child sexual abusers and rapists”, Child Abuse and Neglect 32:549-560. II. Evaluating the problem  31