Teenagers the biggest viewers of child pornography

TEENAGERS are the biggest viewers of child pornography, with a new study warning of stronger evidence that offenders who download the material may be more likely to commit sex crimes against children.

The investigation, conducted in New Zealand, follows a recent Irish study which found that one third of child sex abusers are in their teens.

In the US, 36% of men convicted of downloading child pornography have subsequently been convicted of sexually abusing children, warns Rachel O’Connell, Cork-born director of the Cyberspace Research Unit at the University of Central Lancashire.