I rate this five stars as I respect the work and appreciate hearing about it.
My review is in part however to more critically comment on this statement from Ep5 -
“One of the hardest things is that there is no pattern. There's no type. There's no way to even try and predict who these people might be.”
Really?
I am no professional criminal profile creator, and I am open to hearing evidence to the contrary, but this just seems false.
Let’s start with the big one — sex. It can be either, certainly, but the rates of the perp being male is a disparity that is so stark I just don’t think it can possibly be explained away by ideas like “oh well that’s who gets caught”. Especially not when they often appear to be caught in online-related stings, which shouldn’t be so biased away from identifying female perps as opposed to who gets caught from people pointing the finger irl after discovering abuse.
Ok ok you say, male. That’s a valid profile point but surely that doesn’t narrow it down much. And no, it doesn’t, not much. But then let’s add more red flags that I see again and again:
- heavier than average computer use, and possibly has developed computer skills especially if notably developed beyond what is explained by work or hobby …though often they have other computer/internet related hobbies … and with themes around privacy, dark web, untraceable currency and then also kids media online … can be into organizing online spaces of various kinds like discord servers or forums … unfortunately obviously caring about privacy online is sensible but you are using this sign as one among many
- not always socially engaged, sometimes entirely a recluse living online, but if they are social they will often have cultivated a big personality — whether bombastic, or notably warm/caring, or famous for some skill… builds legions of friends and is very forceful about his right to push boundaries and delights in how the good will of the community allows this … cultivates almost an ad hoc press core around themselves… in this case it’s easier to spot the warning signs looking at who is being rabidly defended by lots of people for any infraction
— these are the whole-community groomers.
- if a loner the above does not apply but they may build up the same thing on a much smaller scale, like at the workplace… or within a small personal circle… often these more introverted ones who still try for being manipulators will present more pathetic … in need of protection… someone who everyone around them has lots of readymade excuses for why he may seem odd but is really a sweetheart … this is sad because it works as there really are odd people out there who are falsely maligned. Idk how to say how to tell the difference other than instinct. Genuinely having practiced patience for eccentric and socially awkward people — but not total indulgence or reacting as though it’s a taboo to criticize or correct someone like that’s behavior — helps you build this instinct because you then see when it goes beyond the usual issues … the type of behavior you might actually see would be obsession with getting alone with people’s kids, maybe extra defensive or has a short fuse at what seems like random times
- long term and heavy porn use - possibly entirely hidden, but a lot of the younger ones entirely view life through a porn-trope lens and seemingly can’t help but reference porn tropes and make related jokes, especially around degrading themes, may come across like a usual perv or may cloak it in cutesy or crusading liberation rhetoric, trying to tie it to every genuinely important cause and dying hard on those hills
This last one is the most important because it’s not just a sign, it’s a cause. It’s the one I honestly am the most suspicious of in a person without worrying too much about falsely being suspicious of someone with an ultimately neutral skill set or personality. Though if the personality is manipulative and selfish that’s a problem, period, and a cause in a way, too.
History of being manipulative is huge. If someone gets used to using manipulative logic on themselves to justify themselves, and to get close to peoples kids with bad intent, they will almost certainly use that skillet in other contexts too to get other things they want. Themes of ethics not applying to them, and “aw schucks I’m just a victim here” are common
