Understanding and Application of Aggravating Circumstances in Child Molestation on the Internet

Abstract

With the popularization and development of the Internet, cyberspace has become a new platform for criminal activities, and the problem of child molestation in cyberspace is becoming increasingly serious. In order to protect the rights and interests of children, this paper believes that the aggravating circumstance of "in a public place in broad daylight" should be applied in the crime of molesting children in cyberspace. Due to the increasing publicity, openness, and social attributes of cyberspace, it has certain characteristics of "public place" to a certain extent, so it should be considered that the crime was committed in a "public place in broad daylight" under certain conditions, and should be punished severely according to the law. In order to avoid inappropriately expanding the scope of crime, the criteria for identifying "public places" and "in broad daylight" should be clarified, and the scope of application should be reasonably defined based on the characteristics of cyberspace.