7 Stages of a child molester grooming a child

There are 7 important stages of grooming that a potential victim might go through before falling prey to a sexual offender. 

1. Targeting the child is the first stage of grooming. At this stage, an abuser try to target a child if he/she notices any vulnerabilities that could be exploited. At this stage, the abuse will give more attention to the child and show special care of affection. 

2. Gaining the trust of the child or her/his guardian, caregiver, parent. Potential abuser works towards gaining the trust of the child and the person responsible for the safety of the child. 

3. Fulfilling the needs. At this stage a child abuser already knows the vulnerabilities and has gained some trust, this is where he/she starts fulfilling the needs of the child that are more important for him/her (child).

4. Use of Isolation Tactics. This is a stage where a potential abuser will start creating or taking advantage of situations where the child is isolated with him/her, for example, one-on-one coaching, tuition, special trips, etc. This is where the child is made to realize that no one can understand him/her better than the abuser. 

5. Sexualizing the child. At this stage, the relationship progressively starts becoming more physical and sexual. This is where the concept of "bad touch" and "good touch" awareness becomes relevant for the child. This is where an abuser can bring in topics regarding sexuality and create confusion to allow the child to ask more questions and then give the answers back to the child that the abuser wishes to ingrain on the child's mind. 

6. Use of threats and blame. With the abuser becoming more physical with the child, it's important for the abuser to maintain the secrecy and low self-esteem of the child, therefore, threats and blame are used to ensure the child's trust is maintained and he/she never speaks about it.

7. Maintaining Control. In order to gain and then maintain control over a child is to use emotional manipulation against the child. For example, using indirect threats to worry and hold him/her responsible for the safety of the family, himself/herself,