A significant global increase has been observed in the availability of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on both the surface and dark web. In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC, 2024) recorded 36.2 million global reports documenting suspected instances of CSAM online. CSAM often takes place in the home, and it is estimated that between 35% (Armitage et al., 2024) and 47% (Brown and Bricknell, 2018) of those arrested for CSAM live with at least one child. Acknowledging the progress made in extending the definition of victim status to children who witness (see/hear) or experience the impacts of domestic abuse, this paper aims to present a case for the children of those convicted of CSAM offences to be recognised as direct victims – allowing access to support services, protection from media reporting, as well as being entitled to communication relating to the offence, the criminal justice processes and outcomes.
Interviews were conducted with 23 adult family members of those being investigated for, or convicted of, CSAM offences in England and Wales. For all participants, children were involved in the investigation – either as children, stepchildren or grandchildren. For all offences, these children were not direct victims. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using Deductive Thematic Analysis. Codes were pre-determined from legal frameworks that constitute harm to a child.
Transcripts were coded against the following eight themes: Abuse, harm and loss caused directly by criminal conduct; neglect; trauma; impairment of health; impairment of development; witnessing the ill-treatment (physical, sexual, emotional abuse) of another family member; witnessing – seeing, hearing or otherwise directly experiencing the effects of criminal conduct at the time that it occurred; seeing, hearing or experiencing the effects of criminal conduct involving domestic abuse as a child under the age of 18, in circumstances where the person being abused or perpetrating the abuse is related to the child or has parental responsibility for that child. The results confirm the findings from the, albeit limited, existing studies on the secondary harms of CSAM offending, and extend the evidence for the harms experienced across all eight themes. The paper concludes that substantial evidence exists to reconsider amending the definition of a victim to include cases where the person is the child of the person posing sexual risk to children.
The voices of children are paramount in telling their own story. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) sets out that children’s views should be respected; children have the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters that affect them, and these views should be taken seriously. In this paper, only one participant was a daughter (adult at the time of the interview); therefore, the findings are largely based on caregivers’ views of the harms experienced by their children. Future research should focus on collating data directly from the children affected.
The data presented in this paper highlights the need to, at the very least, recommence discussions regarding amending victim status to include “where the person is a child of the person posing sexual risk to children”. This was unsuccessfully tabled as an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill in 2023; however, the evidence presented herein provides a sufficient basis for its reconsideration. Beyond the legal requirements, victim status initiates policy and practice responses that indicate recognition of need. Within the context of domestic abuse, recognition of victim status for children who have seen, heard or experienced the effects of domestic abuse triggers consideration of many responses, not limited to safe accommodation (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2024), trauma-informed educational provision (Operation Encompass, 2025) and therapeutic support.
Recognition that “children can be victims of offences and can also be affected by crime even if they are not themselves victims or witnesses” (CPS, 2024) is a critical step in progression for children impacted by the criminal conduct and agency responses to serious sexual offences. Beyond access to victim support or financial recompense, it directs agency responses that require dignity, sensitivity, compassion and courtesy and minimises further harms associated with criminal justice responses that often view these individuals as “collateral consequences” and as a “means to a greater good” (Armitage et al., 2024, p. 921). Of the 4 principles and 12 rights within the Code of Practice for victims of crime (Ministry of Justice, 2025), there are critical elements that would minimise the harms experienced by children of those under investigation for/convicted of CSAM, and these align clearly with the data presented within this paper. These include the provision of information relating to the criminal justice process and the right to have their privacy protected.
This paper presents an original analysis of interviews with 23 individuals affected by the investigation or conviction of a family member for CSAM offences and proposes a change in legislation to recognise children with a parent who poses a sexual risk as direct victims. While previous research has explored the harms experienced by the families of those suspected/convicted of CSAM offences, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to code data according to the legal definition of what constitutes a victim.
