Evaluation of Images Marked as Child Abuse by Digital Systems in Terms of Forensic Age Determination: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: The utilization of children in digital recordings with explicit content is  subject to significant penalties on a global scale. In the context of legal proceedings,  it is of significant legal and social importance to correctly determine whether the  images examined belong to a child or an adult. 

Aim: It is aimed to reveal the  problems encountered in the expert witnessing process, to reveal the methods that  can be used in age determination, and to contribute to the improvement of the  expert witnessing process with the data examined in age determination from digital  images. 

Methods: The decisions of forensic medicine experts on the digital images  dated between 01/01/2015 and 31/12/2022, in which opinions were expressed as to  whether the images included children and, if so, the age range of the children, were  evaluated retrospectively. 

Results: Over the specified period, 349 digital materials  were examined from 69 perpetrators as part of 67 different court cases. It was  observed that 67.9% (n = 237) of the potential victims were female and 81.2% (n = 56)  of the suspect were male. In cases where only limited image data were  available, the age range could be determined in only 20% of cases. In contrast, when  the majority of body parts were visible, the age range was determined in  70.8% of cases. 

Conclusion: In light of the discrepancies between our findings and  those of intelligent systems, it is evident that novel methodologies and studies are  required, particularly for adolescent populations. It is an inevitable consequence of  erroneous opinion that problems will be created for both the victim and the suspect.