Current laws often fail to cover most sexual grooming cases and make them difficult to prosecute unless physical abuse has occurred. Missouri, like 36 other U.S. states, has no explicit laws criminalizing sexual grooming despite its occurence in almost all child sexual abuse cases. Research by the National Institute of Health indicates sexual grooming is involved in 99% of child sexual abuse cases, with child predators using it as a way to avoid detection and prevent disclosure. “We understand better now how sexual and child sexual abuse happens, because there's been a lot more research on it," she said, citing numerous studies including one from the Department of Justice. "It has identifiable red flag behaviors, and a lot of states are forgoing their enticement laws in favor of sexual grooming laws."