These individuals collect child pornography for a variety of reasons, the most distressing of which is as a reminder of a past sexual encounter with a child. In this vein, the molester will take pictures or video to memorialize the act. These pictures have in many instances made their way to the Internet. The demand for child pornographic material is certain to play a role in the molestation of children by individuals seeking to provide it. The IRC channels can be dedicated to any topic including the trading of child pornography or the recruitment of children into illicit sexual relationships.
Molesters can also approach children in legitimate kid areas, as an adult or pose as a child.
Molesters will trade the names of children that are vulnerable or available for molestation. They can assume any screen name they want and change it at any time they want. Molesters use similar approaches as with IRC above. Most services have the facility to send messages between members independent of being in a chat area. Anyone with an ISP can access the 20,000 - 30,000 separate discussion areas, many dedicated to sexual matters, with some dedicated to child pornography and pedophilia subjects.