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<p>This paper examines one of the United Kingdom’s most significant cases of technology-facilitated child sexual abuse, situating it within the wider landscape of violence against women and girls. Drawing upon professional experience within UK policing, it analyses how an offender exploited digital platforms to construct false identities, manipulate victims, and perpetrate abuse across international boundaries. The case illustrates how technology can be weaponised to enable coercive control, deception, and gendered domination in ways that transcend traditional safeguarding mechanisms. Integrating theoretical perspectives on coercive control and secondary traumatic stress, the paper considers both victim experiences and the psychological impact on investigative professionals, arguing that the retention of experienced investigators through adequate welfare support directly enhances the quality and effectiveness of safeguarding responses. It concludes by highlighting the need for trauma-informed, gender-sensitive, and cross-sector approaches to prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence.</p>

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When Technology Becomes a Weapon: The Leighton Case and the Human Cost of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月9日

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  • Paul Gullon-Scott

摘要

This paper examines one of the United Kingdom’s most significant cases of technology-facilitated child sexual abuse, situating it within the wider landscape of violence against women and girls. Drawing upon professional experience within UK policing, it analyses how an offender exploited digital platforms to construct false identities, manipulate victims, and perpetrate abuse across international boundaries. The case illustrates how technology can be weaponised to enable coercive control, deception, and gendered domination in ways that transcend traditional safeguarding mechanisms. Integrating theoretical perspectives on coercive control and secondary traumatic stress, the paper considers both victim experiences and the psychological impact on investigative professionals, arguing that the retention of experienced investigators through adequate welfare support directly enhances the quality and effectiveness of safeguarding responses. It concludes by highlighting the need for trauma-informed, gender-sensitive, and cross-sector approaches to prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence.