What You Need to Know About Online Sexual Offending
This webinar will be of interest to psychologists, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers who are involved in preventing and addressing online sexual offending.
The rapidly evolving landscape of online sexual offending presents significant challenges for professionals working to prevent and address abuse. As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, several key trends have emerged, including AI-generated abuse imagery, sophisticated online grooming, and an increase in self-generated sexual content. These developments require a deeper understanding and innovative approaches from psychologists and other professionals involved in addressing this issue.
Clinical and forensic psychologist Michael Seto is widely recognized as one of the foremost researchers and experts in the field of understanding sexual offending and preventing offenses against children. Dr. Seto has conducted extensive research on internet-facilitated sexual offenses, examining the characteristics, behaviors, and risk factors associated with online offenders. His work in both the on- and offline arenas explores pedophilia, its causes, treatment options, and the relationship between pedophilia and child sexual abuse. In recent years, Dr. Seto developed the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT), a structured risk checklist designed to predict sexual recidivism among individuals who have committed child pornography offenses.
In this one-hour webinar, Dr. Seto speaks about the main points that he has learned in researching online sexual offending, including:
- Current types of online offending
- How online offending has changed in recent years
- Characteristics of those who offend online
- Implications for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers
His upcoming book, Online Sexual Offending, Second Edition, further explores these topics and provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in this field.
For psychologists and other professionals addressing online sexual offending, Dr. Seto’s insights underscore the need for continuous education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the adaptation of risk assessment tools. By leveraging these insights and adopting a multifaceted approach, professionals can significantly contribute to addressing online sexual offending and protecting vulnerable individuals in our increasingly digital world.
Who's Presenting
Michael Seto, PhD
Michael Seto is a registered clinical and forensic psychologist in Ontario, Canada, and is the Director of Forensic Rehabilitation Research for the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and also holds cross-appointments to Ryerson University, Carleton University, and the University of Ottawa. Dr. Seto has published extensively on pedophilia, child pornography, and sexual offending, and regularly presents at scientific meetings and professional workshops on these topics. Dr. Seto is an Associate Editor of “Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment”, the official journal of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and the “Archives of Sexual Behavior”, the official journal of the International Academy of Sex Research. He also serves on the editorial board for the journal Law and Human Behavior, the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society.