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= No Go wd on OY ~] (ee) Ke) a © ha = No (ee) = ws On a OY a ~] a co a Ke) 20 21 22 ae 24 ae Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 782 Filed 01/15/25 Page 30o0f158 30 LBAGma x2 Rocchio - Direct familiar with the term grooming? A. Iam. Q. What is grooming? A. Grooming is a term that is used in the professional literature and in the field to refer to a series of tactics and strategies that are commonly experienced by victims and utilized by offenders in the course of deceiving the child, building a relationship of trust, and then eventually sexually abusing the child. Q. Can you please describe specific grooming strategies? A. So various researchers have identified grooming strategies involving a series of tactics that typically fit into several stages. They typically involve strategies to identify a victim, strategies to have access and to isolate the victim. So for example, many offenders put themselves purposefully in Situations where they're going to have a great deal of access, whether that's a boy scout troop or a school setting or that type of thing, a coach. And then there are various coercive and manipulative strategies that are utilized to develop a relationship of trust, prosocial behaviors, things that might be gift giving or letting the child know how special they are, showering the child with affection. There's been some comparison in the literature, a significant amount of comparison to strategies that are basically akin to what two adults might do in a courtship process. But basically the SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 DOJ-OGR-00014906