Dificultades de la tipificación del delito de child grooming en España: análisis y delimitación de los distintos elementos que lo componen

Abstract

The criminalisation of child grooming was carried out in 2010 due to the obligation to transpose into the legal system some international texts signed by our country, without a solid empirical basis to support it. Thus, the inclusion of this conduct in the Criminal Code has been criticised because of the problems posed by the difficult and imprecise wording of the precept in which it is inserted. Doubts have arisen as to the different elements that comprise this offence, which have not been resolved with the various reforms that this crime has undergone since its incrimination. In addition, it may not have been necessary to prosecute it. The justification put forward to legitimise it lies in the greater lack of value of the conduct involved in contacting a minor with the intention of committing a future sexual offence when digital media are used. This has led to an advance in the barriers of protection of criminal law, through the prosecution in this area of acts preparatory to sexual crimes whose commission is oriented towards the interaction with the minor. Due to the problems of interpretation and practical application that this criminal offence entails, this research analyses all the aspects that revolve around it, especially the elements that comprise it, with the aim of delimiting them and thus shedding light on the dilemmas that they pose.