Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 2019

Vol. 26, No. 2, 295–311, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2018.1506714

A Descriptive Study of Psychosocial Characteristics and Offense

Patterns in Females with Online Child Pornography Offenses
William Bickarta
, Alix M. McLearenb
, Melissa D. Gradyc and Katie Stolerd
a
Chief of Sex Offender Programs, Psychology Services Branch Federal Bureau of Prisons,
Washington, DC, USA; bWomen and Special Populations Branch, Federal Bureau of Prisons,
Washington, DC, USA; cNational School of Social Service, Catholic University, Washington, DC,
USA; dDepartment of Psychology, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Despite a growing body of literature on females who sexually offend, there is a dearth of
research on online sexual offending in women. This study collected descriptive
psychosocial and offense conduct data on 98 females convicted of online sexual offenses
housed in United States federal prisons. Psychosocial history results demonstrated that 60%
of the subjects reported a history of sexual abuse (n ¼ 59), while 46% reported physical
abuse (n ¼ 45). In addition, 47% reported a history of outpatient mental health treatment
(n ¼ 46), and 15% reported prior inpatient mental health treatment (n ¼ 15). The majority
(n ¼ 70) of the women’s offenses involved the victimization of accessible minors to produce
child pornography for distribution on the Internet, most often in association with a male co-
offender. Typically, the subject’s child was the victim and the focus of the child
pornography. Contact offending frequently (n ¼ 39) occurred in the context of the
production of child pornography. The implications of these findings, especially regarding
the role that women play in the creation and distribution of child pornography, are discussed
as well as important directions for future research.
Key words: internet-based offenses; pornography; sexual offending; women.

The psychosocial backgrounds and offense health issues (see Gannon & Cortoni, 2010).
characteristics of females convicted of online However, the extent to which online female
sexual offenses have yet to be explored in a sexual offenders resemble their offline coun-
systematic or empirical fashion. Women play terparts is unknown. As such, it is critical that
an important, but poorly understood, role in more research be conducted with women who
the production, possession and distribution of are charged with offenses related to online CP.
child pornography (CP). An emerging body of This population is especially important to
knowledge on typical (i.e. offline) female sex- understand for a variety of reasons. First, it is
ual offenders has emerged in recent years, to possible that women may play a significant
include an examination of offense pattern role in supporting or contributing to the porn-
characteristics, offense typologies and preva- ography industry. By understanding their role
lent psychosocial characteristics, including his- in this industry, prevention efforts can be
tories of trauma, substance abuse and mental developed to curtail the production of CP and

Correspondence: Katie Stoler, Department of Psychology, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. E-mail:
stolerk1@student.lasalle.edu

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent the
opinions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the Department of Justice.

© 2019 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
296 W. Bickart et al.

its distribution. Second, more information is diversion’ as opposed to a custodial sentence

needed to provide clinical services for online (Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council,
female sexual offenders. For example, it is 2017), making it even more difficult to calcu-
essential to understand the specific motivators late an accurate rate or percentage.
that lead to their involvement in CP to develop One of the central challenges to under-
interventions addressing female-specific fac- standing the prevalence rates of women con-
tors. Finally, it is important to identify the rela- victed of sexual crimes is how such offenses
tionships the children involved in these crimes are defined. Cortoni, Sandler, and Freeman
have with the women, in order to develop (2014) have drawn attention to the inappropri-
child education and prevention programs that ate categorization of offenses related to prosti-
will encourage children to report such activ- tution and sexual trafficking as ‘sexual
ities. The current study’s primary aim is to offenses.’ These offenses certainly include a
address the significant gap in the literature on sexual element, to the extent that the woman is
online female sexual offenders by reporting a participant in sexual acts. However, in many
the results of an exploratory study examining of these cases, it could easily be argued that
the psychosocial and offense data of women the women are the victims rather than the per-
incarcerated for online CP offenses in the petrators of illegal sexual conduct. In other
Federal Bureau of Prisons. cases, the offense involves sexual abuse of an
underage victim by a pimp, frequently abetted
by a female accomplice who serves a role as a
Challenges of accurately identifying the recruiter. The role of these ‘female pimps’
rates of women convicted of (Roe-Sepowitz, Gallagher, Risinger, & Hickle,
sexual crimes 2015) also complicates the categorization of
Until recently, sexual offending by women has sexual crimes committed by women. The
attracted relatively little attention by research- extent to which such cases of prostitution and
ers in the behavioral sciences. Multiple writers pimping are classified by correctional systems
have speculated that this relative lack of inter- as ‘sexual offenders’ is unknown, and further
est can be attributed to the fact that women are complicates effort to accurately calculate the
relatively unlikely to perpetrate sexual abuse total number of women who commit sexual
when compared to men (Cortoni, Babchishin, offenses (Cortoni et al., 2014).
& Rat, 2017; Saradjian, 2010). For example,
one study reported that of all individuals con- Characteristics of women who commit
victed of a sexual crime, only between 2% and sexual offenses
5% are women (Cortoni & Hanson, 2005). Although there are a number of challenges in
However, these numbers may not represent a studying female sexual offenders, the amount
true picture of the rate of sexual crimes com- of research is growing. One consistent finding
mitted by women. While the numbers are still among the available research is the high rate
lower than those for men, a recent meta-ana- of trauma the women have experienced.
lysis reported that, when victim reports are Researchers have reported childhood sexual
used versus criminal arrests, the rate of sexual abuse rates to be between 50% and 80%
abuse incidents perpetrated by women (Cortoni, 2018; Hislop, 2001; Johansson-Love
increases to approximately 12% (Cortoni & Fremouw, 2006), in addition to high rates of
et al., 2017). As with many offense categories, rape in adulthood (Levenson, Willis, &
it is highly likely that sexual crimes involving Prescott, 2015). For these women, the majority
women are underreported to authorities. In of their abuse experiences began at an early
addition, a higher proportion of reported sex- age and often involved multiple perpetrators,
ual assaults by women lead to ‘cautions or frequently individuals they knew (Hislop,
 Females and Pornography Offenses 297

2001; Rousseau & Cortoni, 2010). These (Cortoni, 2018), as well as to the exposure to
experiences also involved violent abuse, the violence and parental neglect they have
which, in many cases, occurred frequently experienced (Gannon, Rose & Ward, 2008).
over a long period of time (Hislop, 2001; Researchers have had little success in devel-
Rousseau & Cortoni, 2010). oping a clear causal model to explain how
When asked about their adverse childhood abuse experiences may lead to or be related to
experiences (ACEs), only 20% of these sexual crimes (Cortoni, 2018; Ford &
women reported no adverse events, whereas Cortoni, 2008). However, many of these
41% reported four or more adverse experien- struggles, including issues of inadequate
ces, including childhood physical and emo- behavioral self-regulation, poor problem-solv-
tional abuse (Levenson et al., 2015). This rate ing skills and susceptibility to the influence of
of abusive experiences is significantly higher antisocial peers (Cortoni, 2018; Ford &
than that in the general population (Levenson Cortoni, 2008), are considered risk factors
et al., 2015) and among other women who are among individuals who commit sexual crimes
incarcerated (Cortoni, 2018), including those and are commonly addressed in treatment pro-
convicted of a violent offense (Strickland, grams that target sexual offenses (McGrath,
2008). Some researchers have reported that Cumming, Burchard, Zeoli, & Ellerby, 2010).
not only are the rates of victimization higher
among women convicted of sexual crimes, but
the level of violence and intensity of their vic- Characteristics of sexual crimes
timization are also more severe than those for committed by women
other women in the prison system (Kaplan & Within the limited literature on women who
Green, 1995; Strickland, 2008). sexually offend, several offense patterns have
Given the high rates of victimization in begun to emerge. For example, women are
childhood, it is not surprising that many more likely than men to have a co-offender, as
female sexual offenders report and/or present 30% of female sexual offending occurs in con-
with high rates of mental illness in their preof- junction with a male co-offender (compared to
fense histories, including mood disorders, per- only 2% of male sex offenders who had a co-
sonality disorders, substance use disorders, offender; Williams & Biere, 2015). Women
psychotic disorders and mental disorder who have a co-offender are more likely to
related to traumatic events (Christopher, Lutz- have a personality disorder diagnosis and to be
Zois, & Reinhardt, 2007; Faller, 1995; Fazel, closely associated with an antisocial peer than
Sjostedt, Grann, & Langstrom, 2010; Hislop, those without a co-offender, who are more
2001; Johansson-Love & Fremouw, 2006; prone to significant mood problems and over-
Lewis & Stanley, 2000; Rousseau & Cortoni, all poorer psychological adjustment (Gillespie
2010; Turner, Miller, & Henderson, 2008). In et al., 2014; ten Bensel, Gibbs, & Burkey,
addition, many of these women present a 2016; Williams, Gillespie, Elliott, &
range of clinical features associated with per- Eldridge, 2017).
vasive psychological adjustment problems, Less consistent in the literature is the role
including dependency issues (Gannon et al., of paraphilic interests in sexual crimes com-
2008), poor social skills (Hislop, 2001), low mitted by women. Some researchers have
self-esteem (Hunter & Mathews, 1997), iden- reported that sexual interests play a role for
tity issues (Hislop, 2001) and antisocial fea- many women (Cortoni, 2018), while others
tures (Ford & Cortoni, 2008). Given the report that this factor is only significant for a
intensity of their abuse experiences, it is small subset of these women (Lambert &
highly likely that their mental health and inter- O’Halloran, 2008). A recent review of the lit-
personal struggles are related to those histories erature on women convicted of sexual crimes
298 W. Bickart et al.

concluded that a pedophilic sexual interest in makes it illegal to induce, or conspire to

prepubescent children is present in few women induce, a child to engage in conduct for the
prior to the onset of the pattern of offending, purpose of creating such images. Prior to the
although deviant arousal may develop as a advent of the Internet, the medium for CP was
byproduct of repeated acts of sexual abuse primarily printed matter (e.g. photographic
over time (Cortoni, 2018). In contrast, women prints or reproduction of prints in magazines)
who perpetrate sexual abuse with adolescent and videocassettes. These materials had to be
victims more typically report recurrent sexual obtained through the mail or in person, or pro-
fantasies related to the victim, but the tendency duced by the user. Currently, CP materials are
in these cases is for the offender to elevate the mostly digital products, capable of being stored
victim to adult status in fantasy (Saradjian & on a variety of electronic devices and transmit-
Hanks, 1996). Again, the limited research on ted via the Internet or telecommunications sys-
deviant arousal in women is insufficient to tems (Seto, 2013). As noted by Seto (2013),
reach any broad conclusions. methods of transmission of CP via the Internet
Other researchers have sought to identify ‘does not respect national borders’ (p. 25) and
patterns among female sexual offenders by hence occurs with minimal technological or
developing typologies (D. A. Harris, 2010), jurisdictional constraint. Perhaps more import-
by classifying them based on either their antly, the ease with which these materials can
mode of offending or their psychosocial char- be produced has led to a dramatic increase in
acteristics (Mathews, 1989; Mathews, the volume of CP available (Seto, 2013). The
Matthews, & Speltz, 1989; Syed & Williams, wide availability of digital cameras, coupled
1996; Vandiver & Kercher, 2004). Although with the proliferation of smart telephones and
some argue that typologies are limiting other common electronic devices with cameras,
(Bickley & Beech, 2001), they can be useful has made it possible for persons with little
when the literature is limited as a tool for technical expertise to create child abuse images
building testable theories or models of causal- in everyday settings, including the home.
ity (Ward, Polaschek, & Beech, 2006) or for With the ease and anonymity of producing
organizing treatment protocols based on group and sharing digital material, online sexual
needs (D. A. Harris, 2010). It is beyond the offending has dramatically increased since the
scope of this paper to review each proposed turn of the last century (Middleton,
typology. However, they tend to consider a Mandeville-Norden, & Hayes, 2009). In the
common set of definitional criteria, which
U.S. federal prison population, individuals
include: (a) the role of male co-offenders in
who commit online sexual crimes are among
the offense process; (b) the presence of an
the fastest growing segments of the total popu-
independent motivation toward sexual abuse
lation, among both males and females
on the part of the female; and (c) victim char-
(Magaletta, Faust, Bickart, & McLearen,
acteristics, such as age, gender and relation-
2012). From 1994 to 2006, child pornography
ship to the offender (see D. A. Harris, 2010).
prosecutions for all sexual offenders accounted
for 82% of the growth in federal sexual
Crimes involving child pornography exploitation crimes (Motivans & Kyckelhahn,
Federal criminal statutes in the United States 2007), resulting in offenses involving the pos-
define ‘child pornography’ as any sexual session, distribution and production of child
depiction of minor children (under the age of abuse images currently being among the most
18). Specifically, 18 U.S. Code § 2251 prohib- frequently prosecuted federal sexual crimes
its the production, distribution, reception or (Motivans & Kyckelhahn, 2007).
possession of visual depictions of sexually Commensurate with the increase in the CP
explicit conduct involving minors, and further offender population, more researchers have
 Females and Pornography Offenses 299

turned their attention to this group, but the with studies on men, it is difficult to know
attention has remained almost exclusively on whether the same models, theories and catego-
men. As researchers began to explore this new ries can be applied to women who commit CP
group, they separated sexual offenses into two offenses as to those who commit contact
subtypes. Noncontact offenses are those offenses. In addition, it is unscientific to sim-
involving possession or distribution of illegal ply assume that the same models, theories and
materials, and do not involve physical contact categories that are emerging for men who
with the victim (McManus, Long, Alison, & have CP offenses can be applied to women.
Almond, 2015), sometimes referred to as ‘just For example, as noted above, the male use of
pictures’ cases (Bourke & Hernandez, 2009). CP is strongly associated with sexual interests
In contrast, contact sexual offenses, defined by related to attraction to children (Seto et al.,
the presence of physical contact between the 2006). However, there is less consensus
offender and the victim, are typical of offense regarding whether women are also driven to
patterns prior to the advent of the Internet. A commit sexual crimes due to their deviant sex-
third group of mixed or dual offenders, with ual interests (Cortoni, 2018), and there is no
histories of both contact and noncontact evidence to support the conclusion that online
offending, is included in many studies. The female sexual offenders are motivated by sex-
similarities and differences between these ual deviancy. Therefore, it is a challenge to
three groups has been examined by many draw any firm conclusions about women with
authors (Babchishin, Hanson, & VanZuylen, online CP offenses because ‘sexual arousal
2015; Elliott, Beech, & Mandeville-Norden, patterns, like many factors related to offending
2013; Lee, Li, Lamade, Schuler, & Prentky, among female sexual offenders, are gender-
2012; Long, Alison, & McManus, 2012; specific rather than gender-neutral’ (Cortoni,
McManus et al., 2015; Neutze, Seto, Schaefer, 2018, p. 60).
Mundt, & Beier, 2010; Seto, Hanson, & To date, there appears to be only one
Babchishin, 2011). Although it is beyond the attempt to explore online sexual offending in
scope of this article to review their research women. However, this attempt, put forth by
findings in detail, two emerging trends are Elliott and Ashfield (2011), is limited to a the-
worth noting. First, offenders with noncontact oretical framework developed to understand
CP offenses scored lower on measures of anti- online sexual offending by women, based
social attitudes and higher on indicators of largely on an unspecified number of archived
psychological barriers that prevent them from clinical interviews. Using case reports, Elliott
acting on their sexual impulses (Babchishin and Ashfield propose the following crimino-
et al., 2015). Second, the noncontact and dual genic factors for these women: interpersonal/
groups display the highest level of pedophilia, socialization deficits, solo offending against
compared to contact-only offenders adolescents, male-associated offending, sexual
(Babchishin et al., 2015; Seto, Cantor, & deviancy and cognitive distortions/recognition
Blanchard, 2006). However, these patterns barriers. In their attempt to understand the
were identified in men, and it remains unclear motivation of women who commit online sex-
as to how these findings apply to women who ual crimes, they suggest that the women are
commit online sexual crimes. more likely to be driven by an effort to main-
tain the emotional engagement of the male co-
offender, rather than for the monetary or
Research on women and child exchange value of the CP. While informed by
pornography clinical cases, the authors state that their
At present, there is a dearth of research on framework is purely theoretical and is provided
women convicted of online CP offenses. As as a starting point for further exploration.
300 W. Bickart et al.

Limitations of current available research Method

As demonstrated in the above review, there is a Context of study
paucity of research on women who commit sex- The federal prison system is responsible for
ual crimes due to the numerous challenges in the custody of offenders convicted of viola-
studying this population. Even less information tions of federal criminal statutes. Federal crim-
is available on women who have CP offenses. inal codes are enacted by the United States
The one paper that has focused on women with Congress in areas where the federal or national
CP charges is based on anecdotal clinical data, interest is at stake. As indicated above, 18 U.S.
and offers a theoretical framework that has not Code § 2251 defines child pornography as any
been empirically validated. As such, researchers visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct
and practitioners have inadequate information involving a minor (under 18 years of age),
to develop effective prevention and intervention including photographs, videos and electronic-
programs for this population. ally stored data that can be converted into a
visual image of a child. Child pornography
offenses fall under federal jurisdiction when a
means of interstate or foreign transmission of
Present study
image is involved in the offense. Such trans-
The present study represents the first effort to mission includes United States Mail or other
collect data on a sizable sample of women common carriers, and electronic communica-
with online sexual offenses, with a clear cat- tion systems such as the Internet. In most
egorization into contact and noncontact cases, online CP offenders violate both local
groups. Given the limited literature currently and federal criminal codes. However, because
available, this study is descriptive and explora- detection and investigation of these cases are
tory, aimed at providing information on typically conducted by federal law enforce-
women who are incarcerated for online sexual ment agencies, online sexual offenders are
crimes in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. By commonly prosecuted in federal courts and are
using this particular population, we were able sentenced to terms of incarceration in fed-
to include the largest possible sample of eral prisons.
women charged with these crimes. Women comprise approximately 7% of
This study was guided by two research the Bureau’s population of nearly 184,000
questions. First, what are the psychosocial inmates. The vast majority of the federal
characteristics of the women charged with prison population are individuals sentenced to
online sexual crimes, including the prevalence a term of incarceration for a violation of a fed-
of mental illness, substance abuse, history of eral criminal code, as noted above. A relatively
trauma and other psychosocial factors? small proportion of the federal prison popula-
Second, what are the offense characteristics of tion is composed of individuals who commit
online female sexual offenders? With regard crimes in the District of Columbia, in tribal
to the second question, we were specifically lands and in the military. However, all subjects
interested in (a) the types of online offenses in the present study were convicted of viola-
committed; (b) the prevalence of male co- tions of a federal criminal code.
offenders; (c) the relationship of the female The research proposal was reviewed and
offender to the victim of child abuse images; approved by the agency’s Research Review
and (d) the prevalence of contact offending in Board, in the Office of Research and
CP production by females. As this study was Evaluation. The study relied upon administra-
exploratory in nature, there were no hypothe- tive data that are part of the official records in
ses posed for the research questions. agency archives.
 Females and Pornography Offenses 301

Sample offenders. To reliably categorize each individ-

Data were drawn from a computerized data- ual’s PSR, a coding instrument was adapted
base of all females sentenced for a sexual from a protocol developed by researchers in
crime in the custody of the Federal Bureau of the Office of Research and Evaluation for an
Prisons as of November 2012. This initial earlier research project. To ensure that the
search yielded 215 women, with approxi- raters had strong interrater reliability (IRR), a
mately one third convicted of a prostitution- subset of 10 cases was coded by the four
type offense (n ¼ 74). These women were raters. They were able to reach 100% IRR on
excluded as they did not meet our definition of the first attempt. It is likely that the high IRR
women who were the perpetrator of a trad- can be attributed to the comprehensiveness of
itional sexual offense (Cortoni et al., 2014). the PSRs, the dichotomous nature of the varia-
Women serving a sentence for a nonsexual bles (e.g. the presence or absence of a docu-
offense but who had a prior sex offense con- mented history of sexual victimization as a
viction were also excluded (n ¼ 15) in order to child) and the raters’ prior expertise in scoring
focus exclusively on those women with a cur- actuarial measures using similar definitional
rent offense for an online federal sexual crime. criteria, as noted below.
Finally, women with a non-Internet sex
offense were excluded (n ¼ 28). These
Variables
offenders were serving federal sentences for a
wide range of ‘traditional’ sexual offenses, Psychosocial variables
such as sexual abuse of a child. The final sam- History of mental health treatment
ple consisted of 98 subjects serving a sentence (inpatient/outpatient)
for an online sexual offense, representing the The psychosocial history section of the PSR
entire population of female online sexual was reviewed to determine the presence or
offenders in the standing population of the fed- absence of a documented history of inpatient
eral prison system in November 2012. or outpatient mental health treatment. The
presence of a history was coded as 1; no his-
Data collection tory of mental health treatment was coded
Agency administrative data were used, with as 0.
most drawn from the Presentence Report
(PSR), which is completed during the pretrial History of suicide attempts/gestures
phase of the adjudication process by United The presence of any documented history of
States Probation Officers. The PSR contains self-injurious behavior prior to arrest was
demographic, psychosocial and offense data, coded as 1; no history of self-injurious behav-
including the role of other persons in the ior was coded as 0.
offense process and the relationship between
the offender and the victim. The reports are
based on an interview with the defendant, with History of treatment with psycho-
corroboration by collateral documentation and, tropic medication
in many cases, interviews with third parties. The medical history in the PSR was reviewed
The records of investigating agencies are also to determine whether there was any history of
incorporated into the PSR, providing compre- prescribed treatment with psychotropic medi-
hensive data on the offender’s current offense cation prior to arrest. The following categories
of conviction. were used: No history of treatment was coded
The PSRs were coded by four doctoral- as 0; medication generally prescribed for a
level psychologists with expertise in the scor- mood or anxiety disorder was coded as 1;
ing of actuarial risk assessments for sexual medication generally prescribed for a
302 W. Bickart et al.

psychotic disorder was coded as 2; and history Criminal history variables

of treatment with medication in both classes Age at first arrest
was coded as 3.
This variable was coded from the offender’s
age at the first occasion that she was brought
History of cognitive impairment into custody, to include the arrest for the cur-
The medical, vocational and educational his- rent offense (i.e. for first-time offenders).
tory sections of the PSR were reviewed for
any indication of cognitive issues. Any history
Prior offenses
of head injury with cognitive sequelae was
coded as 1. Any indication of an intellectual Prior offenses were defined as court appear-
disability, to include such terms as ‘borderline ance sentencing dates for a ‘significant crim-
intelligence’ or ‘significant learning dis- inal offense’ (i.e. an offense for which the
ability,’ was coded as 2. No history of cogni- court could impose a custodial penalty or com-
tive impairment was coded as 0. munity supervision). The definitional criteria
used were derived from the Static-99R, which
History of autism spectrum disorder operationalized a prior criminal offense as a
distinct occasion on which the offender was
Documentation in the PSR indicating the pos-
sentenced for a criminal offense (A. J. R.
sible presence of an autism spectrum disorder,
Harris, Phenix, Hanson, & Thornton, 2003).
to include Asperger’s disorder, was coded as
The other definitional criteria stipulated in the
1; the absence of such documentation was
coded as 0. scoring manual were also applied.

History of substance abuse Prior sexual offenses

Documentation in the PSR of a substance use Prior sexual offenses were coded based on a
disorder prior to arrest, evidenced by a history review of the criminal history section of the
of negative consequences due to the use of PSR. To qualify as a prior sexual offense, the
alcohol or illicit substances, was coded as 1; PSR was required to document a clear sexual
the absence of a substance use disorder was element to the offense. The definitional criteria
coded as 0. used were derived from the Static-99R, which
operationalized a sexual offense as officially
History of sexual victimization recorded sexual misbehavior or criminal
behavior with a sexual intent (A. J. R. Harris
The family history section of the PSR was
et al., 2003).
reviewed to determine any history of sexual
abuse as an adult or child. The item was coded
as follows: sexual victimization as an adult Prior violent offenses
(18 or over) ¼ 1; sexual victimization as a Prior violent offenses were coded based on a
child ¼ 2; both ¼ 3; or neither ¼ 4. review of the criminal history section of the
PSR. To qualify, the PSR was required to
History of physical victimization document a conviction for a nonsexual violent
The family history section of the PSR was offense. The definitional criteria used were
reviewed to determine any history of physical derived from the Static-99R, which lists
abuse as an adult or child. The item was coded offenses defined as violent, including murder,
as follows: physical victimization as an adult assault and robbery (A. J. R. Harris et al.,
(18 or over) ¼ 1; physical victimization as a 2003). The other definitional criteria stipulated
child ¼ 2; both ¼ 3; or neither ¼ 4. in the scoring manual were also applied,
 Females and Pornography Offenses 303

including the categorization of attempted vio- Contact offending

lence and juvenile adjudications as ‘violent.’ The offense conduct section of the PSR was
reviewed to determine whether the subject
engaged in contact offending during the pro-
Offense variables
duction of child pornography. ‘Contact
Current offense offending’ was defined as physical contact in
The offense of conviction on the subject’s a sexual context between the subject and the
Judgement and Commitment Order was victim. If there was any contact offending dur-
reviewed to classify the current offense in the ing the offense conduct, this item was coded
categories of CP possession or CP production. as 1; the absence of contact offending was
However, to ensure that all cases meeting cri- coded as 0. Giving verbal instructions to the
teria were captured, the offense conduct sec- victim, even if coercive, was not coded as
tion of the PSR was also reviewed to contact offending unless physical con-
determine whether the offense featured an tact occurred.
online element. In a small number of cases
(n ¼ 12), the official offense of record was the
Results
sexual abuse of a child (i.e. a ‘traditional’ con-
tact sexual offense), but because the offense Sample
conduct occurred during the production of CP, The final sample consisted of 98 subjects of
these cases were coded as online offenses and women who were convicted of crimes involv-
were included in the sample. ing online CP. Within the sample, 86 subjects
were convicted of violations of federal child
pornography statutes (i.e. possession, distribu-
Presence of co-offending tion or production of child pornography), and
The offense conduct section of the PSR was an additional 12 subjects were convicted of
reviewed to determine whether a co-offender ‘traditional’ contact sexual offenses committed
was instrumentally involved in the subject’s during the production of CP.
current offense. The presence of a co-offender The majority of the women were
was coded as 1; the absence of a co-offender Caucasian (n ¼ 94, 95%). Three subjects (3%)
was coded as 0. were African American, and one subject
(<1%) was Asian. Five subjects, four
Caucasian and one African-American,
Relationship of subject to CP produc- reported a Hispanic ethnicity, while the major-
tion victim ity of subjects (95%) reported being ethnically
In cases where the subject’s offense involved non-Hispanic. The age of the subjects (at the
the production of CP, the relationship of the time of the adjudication of their current
subject to the victim was coded from the offense) ranged from 20 to 57 years, with an
offense conduct section of the PSR. Victims overall mean age of 38 years. The mean length
who were the subject’s biological or adopted of sentence was 276 months, with four sub-
child were coded as ‘own child’ (coded as 1); jects serving life sentences.
victims who were acquaintances but were not
family (e.g. babysitters; neighbors) were coded Background characteristics:
as ‘persons of access’ (coded as 2); and vic- psychosocial history
tims who had no special relationship with the Fifteen subjects (15%) had a documented his-
subject were coded as ‘no personal tory of inpatient mental health treatment prior
relationship’ (coded as 3). to incarceration, and 46 subjects (47%) had a
304 W. Bickart et al.

Table 1. Documented victimization prior to incarceration.

Physical victimization Sexual victimization

(N ¼ 98) (N ¼ 98)

n % n %
As child only 10 10.2 42 42.9
As adult only 24 24.5 11 11.2
As child 11 11.2 6 6.1
& adult
Neither 53 54.1 39 39.8

documented history of prior outpatient mental Offense characteristics: general trends

health treatment. In addition, 34 subjects Table 2 presents frequency counts of the
(35%) reported that they were previously offense characteristics for 98 subjects in the
treated with medication for a mood or anxiety sample, separated into three categories: CP
disorder; none had prior treatment with medi- possession; CP production with contact; and
cation prescribed for a psychotic disorder. CP production without contact. Overall, two
Twenty-four subjects (25%) had a documented thirds of the subjects (n ¼ 65) committed an
history of suicide attempts prior to incarcer- offense with a male co-offender, whereas one
ation. Additionally, 39 subjects (40%) had a third (n ¼ 33) were solo offenders.
documented history of substance abuse. None
of the participants had a documented history Child pornography possession
of autism spectrum disorder. Six subjects (6%)
Twenty-nine percent (n ¼ 28) of the sample
had documentation of cognitive impairment of were convicted of a CP possession offense
mild to moderate impact on overall function- only. These subjects collected and, in some
ing, while none had a history of head injury. cases, shared CP but did not participate in its
As shown in Table 1, most subjects (61%) production. Among the 28 women convicted
reported a history of sexual abuse at some of CP possession, 11 of these cases (39%)
point in their lives. Almost half (45%) reported involved the possession of child abuse images
experiencing physical abuse in their lifetime. in a collection shared with a male co-offender.
The remaining 17 cases (61%) were solo child
pornography offenses.
Background characteristics:
criminal history Child pornography production
The majority (n ¼ 70, 71%) of the sample was without contact
composed of first-time offenders (i.e. the cur- The women convicted for CP production with-
rent sexual offense was the only criminal out contact (n ¼ 31, 32%) committed offenses
appearance on record); 20 (20%) had between in which they either instigated or participated
one and three prior offenses; and 8 subjects in the production of child abuse images.
(8%) had four or more prior offenses. Only Although they were physically present while
one of the subjects had a sexual offense prior the child abuse images were created, there was
to the current sexual offense. Four subjects no evidence of direct physical contact between
had a single prior violent offense. The average the offender and the victim. A typical example
age at first criminal arrest was 30.3 years of such a case is a subject who took pictures of
of age. her naked child on her cellular telephone and
 Females and Pornography Offenses 305

Table 2. Offense of conviction.

Offense of conviction n %
Child pornography pro- 39 40
duction with contact
Child pornography pro- 31 32
duction without contact
Child pornog- 28 29
raphy possession

Note. N ¼ 98.

sent the images to her boyfriend. In another a sample of incarcerated online female sexual
typical case, the subject gave verbal instruc- offenders. The study was guided by two pri-
tions and encouragement to the victim as a mary research questions. The first question
male accomplice created child abuse images. focused on the psychosocial characteristics of
the women who commit online sexual
Child pornography production with contact offenses. Consistent with prior research on
females who commit ‘traditional’ sexual
In 40% (n ¼ 39) of the cases, physical contact offenses, our findings indicate that a large per-
between the offender and victim transpired dur- centage of our sample reported a history of
ing the production of child abuse images. The either inpatient or outpatient mental health
contact offending during CP production ranged services, past treatment with antidepressants
from manually posing a victim’s legs to afford and/or anxiolytics, prior self-harm episodes,
a view of the genitals to digital penetration of including suicide attempts, substance abuse
the victim’s vagina or oral contact upon his and trauma histories. However, rates of cogni-
penis. It should be noted that, in many offense tive impairment, autism spectrum disorder and
descriptions, the subject was initially involved past treatment with antipsychotic medication
in the production of CP in a noncontact role were low. The majority of subjects had no
(e.g. providing instructions and encourage- criminal history prior to the conviction for
ment), only to gradually shift into a role involv- their current online sexual offense, and the
ing direct physical contact with the victim. prevalence of prior sexual offenses was
extremely rare.
CP production aggregate The second question focused on the
offense characteristics of online female sexual
To examine the offending patterns of the CP
offenders. The main offense pattern that we
production group, data on the 31 CP produc- identified was that the majority of women in
tion without contact subjects were combined the sample committed an offense involving the
with the 39 CP production with contact sub- production of online CP, with a minority con-
jects, resulting in a group composed of 70 sub- victed of CP possession/distribution offenses.
jects. The data on the offense characteristics of Overall, two thirds of the sample committed
the aggregate CP production category are pre- an offense in association with a male co-
sented in Table 3. offender. The large majority of CP production
offenses involved male co-offenders. This pat-
tern was not observed in the CP possession
Discussion
group. The majority of these subjects collected
Summary of results CP on their own accord and retained it for pri-
This article presents the psychosocial back- vate viewing. However, a substantial minority
ground characteristics and offense patterns of of CP possessors shared a CP collection with
306 W. Bickart et al.

Table 3. Offenses involving child pornography production.

n %
Offender’s relationship to
victim of CP production
Own child (biological 50 71
or adopted)
Person of access 12 17
No personal 8 12
relationship
Presence of Male Co-
Offender in
CP Production
Yes 54 77
No 16 23

Note. N ¼ 70. CP ¼ child pornography.

a male co-offender. We also examined the the type of child sexual abuse images desired
relationship women had with the victims of by those who view it.
CP production offenses, and found that the A second implication is regarding how
victims were usually their own children. contact offenses are categorized when they
Finally, we studied the patterns of contact involve women. In our study, there was a high
offending within CP offenses, and determined prevalence of contact offending during the pro-
that in a large proportion of CP production duction of CP. The typical case involved the
cases, physical contact between the subject production of digital images of a woman sexu-
and a child victim occurred. ally abusing her own child. Although her sex-
ual contact with the victim may have been
Implications driven in part by a desire for sexual gratifica-
tion on the part of the offender, it could also
Based on the findings of this study, there are have been motivated by her desire to create
several important implications to highlight. child sexual abuse images, most often in com-
First, women are a critical factor in the pro- plicity with a male co-offender. In this respect,
duction of CP. The findings of this study indi- the offender not only was an abuser of the
cate that CP production is an offense that, in child, but was herself a subject of the porno-
many if not most cases, involves three parties: graphic images, as well as a partner in their
a male motivated to acquire CP, a child vic- creation. While such conduct certainly meets
tim, and an individual who provides access to the traditional definition of a ‘contact sexual
that victim. It appears that women are fre- offense,’ we suggest that it represents a new
quently the provider of the child victim, often type of contact offending that is a byproduct of
using their own children. It is possible that the the influence of digital technologies on pat-
level of trust children have in their mothers terns of sexually abusive behavior. This find-
and other female caregivers may serve to ing may further complicate the challenges of
influence the content of child sexual abuse classifying and even counting women who
images, by creating the appearance that the commit contact sexual crimes, as categories of
victim is happy, or at least comfortable, with offending may be more nuanced than the
the ongoing abuse. In that respect, the labels appear.
offender is leveraging her role as a parent or Third, our results add to the literature that
trusted caregiver in the interest of obtaining women who commit sexual crimes have
 Females and Pornography Offenses 307

histories of significant trauma and mental were corroborated from collateral sources,
health issues. This finding has important impli- most of these data were largely based on self-
cations for prevention of child abuse; it is report. However, some areas of the psycho-
essential that health and behavioral health pro- social history (notably, reports of childhood
viders screen and provide trauma-based treat- trauma) are difficult, if not impossible, to ver-
ment for children universally, and particularly ify. The same limitation also applies to the
for those identified most at risk (Levenson, data on offense conduct, although to a much
2014; Levenson et al., 2015). For the women lesser extent. The offense conduct data
who go on to commit sexual offenses, it is detailed in the PSR were largely based on
essential that they receive treatment focused on records supplied by investigators, usually sup-
their mental health, substance use, previous plemented by digital evidence such as forensic
victimization and other co-morbid issues (Ford, analysis of confiscated child abuse images,
2010; Ford & Cortoni, 2008; Rousseau & computer devices and email exchanges
Cortoni, 2010). This study cannot identify a between known parties. Therefore, the coded
causal relationship between these behavioral data related to the subject’s offense conduct
and mental health issues and the offending. were likely to be an accurate representation
However, it is highly likely that these issues the subject’s actual offense behavior. For
increase their risk of resolving their own strug- example, the identity of child victims of CP
gles through coercive and/or unhealthy rela- production and the role of a male co-offender
tionships either with their children or with the were supported by data that meet the high evi-
men they partner with to commit these crimes dentiary standards expected in a court of law.
(Marshall, 2010). Another important limitation is that much of
Finally, the findings of this study indicate the data, especially with regard to the psycho-
that much more research is needed with this social history, were dichotomous. Therefore,
population. This study was descriptive in nature we are unable to report the severity, frequency,
and presented findings based on only adminis- intensity or other variations of the variables.
trative records of the crimes and the women’s Future research should consider including ques-
psychosocial histories. In order to increase our tions that are able to examine these variables in
understanding of how to prevent such crimes,
a more nuanced way in order to identify patterns
much more research is needed regarding the
and begin to create causal theories.
women’s internal motivations and the influence
Also, the generalizability of the findings is
of the partnerships formed with male co-
limited due to the nature of the sample. While
offenders. We are, as yet, unable to address the
the sample studied does represent the entire fed-
question of how the offense patterns of women
eral population of women convicted of online
with online sexual offense are similar to and/or
sexual offenses, the extent to which the federal
different from those of males and other trad-
population is representative of offender popula-
itional ‘contact’ offending women. This study
tions in other jurisdictions or noncorrectional
was an initial step in trying to understand this
settings is unknown. Finally, as this study was
new category of sexual offenses, yet much more
descriptive in nature, no causal relationships
study is necessary to understand completely the
could be proposed or were investigated.
complexities of these crimes.

Limitations Conclusion
There are several limitations of this study that This is the first study to report offense and
are important to note. First, the majority of the psychosocial characteristics of women who
psychosocial data were derived from the PSR, commit online sexual offenses with a sizable
and, although some of the data in the PSR number of subjects. Although these women
308 W. Bickart et al.

comprise a small percentage of all sexual national research committee and with the 1964
offenses, it appears that they play a significant Helsinki declaration and its later amendments
and essential role in the production of CP, pri- or comparable ethical standards.
marily through partnerships with males. In
these partnerships, these women appear to
Informed consent
identify and ‘supply’ the children used in CP,
including their own children. The relationships Informed consent was obtained from all indi-
that they have with the children may also vidual participants included in the study
influence the types of images that are created
during the production phase, including initiat- ORCID
ing sexual contact. As such, these women par-
Katie Stoler http://orcid.org/0000-0003-
ticipate in the production of child pornography
3459-3257
on both sides of the camera – as a person who
provides access to the victim, and as a second-
ary subject of the images. In order to prevent
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