Sexual Offending with Childlike Sex Dolls in Australia: A Descriptive Study of Media Reports

Childlike sex dolls (CLSDs) present an issue of growing concern for criminal justice professionals and child safety advocates around the globe, with legislation being rapidly introduced to combat this problem. Empirical research on this topic is limited, and little has been documented about individuals who import, own and/or use CLSDs. This study sought to contribute to knowledge by examining newsprint media reports concerning cases (n = 33) of CLSD importation and/or use in Australia. The research sets out the key features of these cases to advance understanding and inform professionals tasked with preventing and responding to the problem of CLSDs, such as law enforcement and border security officers. We found that CLSD perpetrators were often found in possession of other forms of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and are typically specialist rather than generalist perpetrators. Our findings lend support to some aspects of the extant research literature by demonstrating that CLSD perpetrators have a profile similar to that of other CSAM perpetrators (rather than contact child sexual abuse perpetrators). We make a series of policy and practice recommendations based on these findings.