Hi there,

Anne's right, the UNH study is by far the best and most comprehensive out there. A good place to access it is here: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/youth_internet_safety_survey.html

While the study is too broad to give you actual stats, you can access the stats for the United States here: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cvusst.htm

Mostly though, I use the publications produced as a result of the study, a comprehensive list can be found here: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/youth_internet_safety_survey_publications.html

Recognize, however, that this study uses same age group statistics, so the results (while frightening) should be taken with a grain of salt because they will include teen to teen solicitations.

There was a study rumored to be specific only to your question (sexual solicitation by a known adult) published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 40, Issue 2, Pages 104-105. However I cannot access that article to view or verify it's authenticity.

I'll ask around and see if my peerage can find anything. Do you need it to be country-specific?

PS. In case you are interested, there's a great article/study from the UK, located here: http://www.internetcrimeforum.org.uk/chatwise_streetwise.html that covers texting as well as net solicitations.

K, I hope others contribute to this too. I haven't seen any studies on this, but you might contact the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the U. of New Hampshire for their perspective on this. My sense is, that - statistically - there'd be a pretty high incidence of inappropriate contact online from people children know because somewhere between 75% and 90% of all child sexual exploitation cases (offline) in the US involve people they know. Let us know what you find out. All best,
Anne
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Anne Collier
ConnectSafely co-director