Online Child Abuse and Neglect

The past two decades have seen the development, diversification, and intensification of information and communication technologies. The result is that society now has unlimited opportunity for communication and access to information. Despite the multitude of benefits, the Internet has propagated new ways to both sexually victimize and exploit children and youth in an online environment and through multiple formats including sexting, child luring and sexual solicitation, and child sexual abuse images online. This chapter explores each of these forms of child exploitation and concludes by outlining the signs and impact of online abuse.