This paper draws on two sources of data: a review of documents published during 2012-2016 on child sexual exploitation (CSE) and statistical analysis of press reports on 498 defendants in 73 locality based child exploitation group (GLCSE) trials which took place during 1997 and 2017 in the UK. The results of the study point to the following: CSE victims are portrayed in popular media as working class, sexualised beings who are hard to reach and difficult to engage (Salter and Dagistanli, 2015). There is a disproportionate reporting of Muslim men as sexual predators leading to the location of CSE with Muslim populations. Finally, that professionals are not pursuing cases for fear of being accused of racism.

The prosecution records, derived from over two thousand local and national press reports, proved particularly useful for further consideration of offender profiles. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to utilise this information to explore the primary motivations underlying the crime in order to enhance professional understanding of behaviours and typologies (Ward and Keenan, 1999). The traits under consideration point to GLCSE being a specialist sex crime attracting perpetrators with limited social competence driven by the need for high levels of interpersonal contact using secretive approaches.