In her doctoral thesis, Rachel suggested that one could regard a computer network as an extension of a paedophile's mind. By examining the pictures an individual collects and conversations he/she engages in with like-minded individuals, it is possible to build a criminal profile of the individual and his or her sexual preferences. In addition, a close examination of the person's activities on-line afford the forensic psychologist an insight into an individual's modus operandi, which together with their patterns of Internet use and their electronic interrogative techniques, are often used to track paedophiles to their home addresses.
The Achilles' heel of the paedophile network is the exhibitionism of its members, their boasting of their exploits and, most significantly, the illusion of anonymity. What makes these perpetrators different from other criminals is that they believe what they are doing to be justified and good. Their conversations indicate that they mythologise children as seductive "sexual beings" who desire "sexual interaction" with adults. These paedophiles are convinced that they are doing no harm, that they have a right to their particular "sexuality" and that they are being persecuted by a world that does not understand them.
Getting into the heads of these men - and, increasingly, women - is a difficult task. Prior to engaging with on-line paedophiles talking away unhibitedly in their electronic habitat, a range of ethical decisions had to be made to prevent Rachel becoming involved in actual crimes. Notwithstanding these codes of practice, she still could not help feeling psychologically drained by her on-line experiences and attended weekly debriefing sessions with a psychologist. The residual feeling of fear and loathing of on-line activities permeated into her own real-world experiences when walking home at 4 a.m., after hours on the "risky shift": she would feel completely vulnerable.
This was not an irrational fear. It is generally recognised among experts in the area that as a researcher tackling the sexual abuse of children via the Internet, Rachel's life is at risk. The implicit threat to the Cork woman's life was acknowledged at a private round-table discussion on child pornography on the Internet in Dublin several weeks ago, which was organised by Mary Banotti MEP - a meeting at which the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which is taking an active interest in this area, was represented. But the risk is one which Rachel has been willing to take for the sake of the world's children in an age when Internet access makes children more vulnerable than ever.
Rachel's exhaustive statistical analysis of images has taken its emotional toll, but methods she has been instrumental in developing have also led to arrests and convictions of paedophiles. Rachel began her research as part of her doctoral thesis in psychology in 1996, with the advice of Prof Max Taylor of the Child Studies Unit in the Department of Psychology at UCC. In 1997, the Child Studies Unit secured funding from the EU for a European-wide project called COPINE (Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe).
Through this project, Rachel and her colleagues at UCC, where this work continues, have been able to feed invaluable information to the Garda Siochana, the Paedophile unit of Scotland Yard and both the Belgian and Dutch police. Information given to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) by UCC led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of a paedophile in the past year. Insp Terry Jones, head of the paedophile detection unit, got a call from a UCC graduate student about a series of pictures which showed the sexual abuse of a four-year-old girl, and appeared to be contemporary and in the UK.
Under UK law, the creation, possession and dissemination of "indecent images of children" is a criminal offence. In 1995, the GMP seized a dozen such images. In 1999, they seized 41,000 - all but three of which were on computer format.
Because the Internet distribution of such images is an international activity without national boundaries, it is difficult to find the location of the abuse. In this case, however, the room was obviously "English" and there were telling details, including an ad for a chocolate bar on the TV screen which could be pinpointed to a particular period of broadcast. The room's objects - including the patterned bedspread, the carpet, a shampoo bottle and two school uniforms - were all silent witnesses to the sexual torture of the four-year-old girl. This evidence, combined with electronic tracing which involved visits to web sites in Japan and the US, enabled Insp Jones and his team to track the perpetrator to a specific address.
Rachel has completed her work in the psychological profiling of paedophiles and is now focusing on something, which, she believes, will ultimately do more to protect children: education. "The diverse ramifications of access to and use of the Internet, to exploit positive or negative potentialities of technology are increasingly becoming apparent. Parents, carers and teachers often feel a sense of powerlessness, feel overwhelmed by the seeming technical complexity of the issues raised by their charges' use of the Internet. The rapid increase in technological sophistication has undoubtedly given rise to a knowledge deficit, and a confidence deficit. Many adults do not have any computer skills, and many others who do have the skills still feel ill-equipped to educate their children about on-line safety because they are not fully aware of the issues or the challenges.
An open and honest dialogue between parents and children needs to be encouraged. Often children who have been approached on-line are too frightened to tell their parents, because they are afraid they will be angry or disappointed in them.
Furthermore, parents need to understand that paedophiles entrap their victims, sometimes getting the child to do things which make them feel so ashamed, they cannot tell an adult. Internet paedophiles are so seductive, that children can be drawn in to a conversation with this "nice" person, not realising they are in danger until it is too late.
This is an age-old problem in a new guise: adults with a sexual interest in children use the Internet in order to disguise their true identity, reminding us of the fable of little Red Riding Hood. "The question is how do we translate the lessons to be learned from the story of the predatory wolf dressed in Grandma's clothing into a modern day form which children will relate to when navigating the Internet?" asks Rachel.
Why is education so important? If a child aged 10-17 is using the Internet regularly, his or her chances of being sexually approached are one in five, according to research by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the US. Such approaches include unwanted sexual solicitations, unwanted sexual material and threatening and offensive behaviour.
In three-quarters of cases, children are not damaged or unduly distressed, according to research led by the NCMEC, which operates a CyberTipline on which children can register sexual advances. Dr Daniel Broughton, a paediatrician at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and a founder of the NCMEC, who was in Dublin recently to attend the Banotti discussion, stresses that only in a minority of cases are children severely damaged by the experience.
But it's enough to make parents wary of the perils of the Internet, although Dr Broughton believes parents who deny Internet access to children are over-reacting. He advises parents to keep an eye on children's Internet activities and limit time to an hour or two a week. Parents should also offer children a supportive and non-judgmental setting in which to discuss their experiences, so that if something untoward does happen, the child feels free to discuss it.
Rachel is convinced that the only way to design an effective education programme for children is to conduct further research into how children use and perceive the Internet - research which is receiving support from the European Commission.
The Government has also been looking at how best to tackle the problem. A Working Group on the Illegal and Harmful Use of the Internet established in 1997 recommended the introduction of a system of self-regulation by the Internet service provider industry. The industry responded, with assistance from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and established a national public hotline to process complaints of child pornography on the Internet. The Internet Advisory Board is now in turn monitoring the effectiveness of self-regulation.
But we must keep the risks of online victimisation in perspective: according to research, one in eight Irish boys and one in four Irish girls will be sexually abused in "real life", as opposed to virtual reality. For most abused children, this happens in their own homes or in the homes of trusted friends or relatives.
Many others will be physically attacked by other youths. Internet victimisation is new, but as challenging and harmful as it may seem, it is not the most significant nor the most likely peril for our children.
For advice on helping your children use the Internet safely, see www.cyberangels.org
Anyone who sees child sexual exploitation on the Internet should e-mail details to report@hotline.ie or call 1890-610710.