Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar: ‘Who Are Your Kids Talking To? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Online Child Sexual Exploitation Offenders’

Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, an associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology’s cyber forensics program, presented “Who Are Your Kids Talking To? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Online Child Sexual Exploitation Offenders” at the Westwood Lecture Series on Jan. 24, 2024.

Abstract. Online child sexual exploitation is a global problem facilitated by technological advancements, which enable child sex offenders to target any number of victims simultaneously, whenever and from anywhere. It is estimated that one-third of online child sex offenders are contact-driven, meaning they are motivated to have sex with the minor in the real world. However, the sheer volume and complexity of reports and cases make it difficult for law enforcement to triage and investigate high-priority cases.

In this talk, Seigfried-Spellar discussed the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to combating online child sexual exploitation, including:

• Criminological differences between contact- and noncontact-driven offenders.
• Variations in their grooming strategies and use of self-disclosures when chatting with minors.
• The role of knuckle and nail bed biometrics as a law enforcement tool for offender identification.
• The importance of digital forensic artifacts when assessing offender risk.

Bio. Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar is an associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Technology’s cyber forensics program. She is a globally recognized expert in the area of internet crimes against children, specifically in the criminological characteristics and grooming strategies of online child sex offenders. She is a member of the Tippecanoe County High Tech Crime Unit and has special deputy status with the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s Office. Seigfried-Spellar was a 2022-23 U.S. Fulbright Scholar awardee for her research at the University of Valencia, Spain, titled “Analyzing Criminological Differences and Online Grooming Strategies of Child Sex Offenders in Spain.” She is also a recipient of the International Fellows Award for summer 2024 at the University of Adelaide, Australia, where she will collaborate with faculty from the Adelaide Cybercrime Laboratory and Australian Federal Police. Seigfried-Spellar is a fellow and the chair of the Digital and Multimedia Sciences Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a member of the American Psychological Association and International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts.