{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T13:32:21Z","timestamp":1790775141898,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":79,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]],"date-time":"2023-08-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692748800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Trauma, Violence, &amp; Abuse"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Public and police concern about internet crimes against children has been primarily typified as a stranger danger problem. However, existing research suggests a variety of perpetrator ages and relationships to the victim. A more accurate estimate will help inform prevention efforts. This study provides a meta-analysis examining the identity of perpetrators in internet crimes against children. Databases were searched for published and unpublished studies using a detailed search strategy. In total, 32 studies met full inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria was the following: (1) the victim sample consisted of children under the age of 18\u2009years or young adults (18\u201325) asked to respond retrospectively; (2) the study victims experienced abuse through the use of technology; (3) the study reported the identity of the perpetrator, either the relationship to the victim or the age of the perpetrator; (4) the study was available in English. The overall proportion of offenders under the age of 18 as a proportion of all identified offenders was 44% (95% CI: 0.28\u20130.60). The overall proportion of acquaintance and family offenders as a proportion of all identified offenders was 68% (95% CI: 0.62\u20130.75). Between study variability was explained by data source, with higher proportion of juvenile offenders in studies using survey data. This meta-analysis confirms that most perpetrators of online crimes against children are not strangers to their victims and a large portion of perpetrators are juveniles. Prevention education needs to focus more on inappropriate behavior from anyone in addition to the dangers about communicating with strangers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15248380231194072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]],"date-time":"2023-08-23T05:32:46Z","timestamp":1692768766000},"page":"1756-1768","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Perpetrators\u2019 Identity in Online Crimes Against Children: A Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8327-9282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samantha","family":"Sutton","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7008-4252","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David","family":"Finkelhor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-15248380231194072","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0264550515619572"},{"key":"bibr2-15248380231194072","volume-title":"The juvenile sex offender","author":"Barbaree H. 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