<![CDATA[Child grooming is commonly understood as a manipulative process through which offenders establish trust and emotional intimacy with children to facilitate sexual exploitation. Existing studies have predominantly approached this phenomenon from psychological, criminological, and socio-legal perspectives, leaving its theological dimension insufficiently explored. This article aims to construct the category of progressive sin within the framework of systematic theology in order to interpret child grooming as a gradual process of sin characterized by relational distortion, abuse of power, and the blurring of moral boundaries. This study employs a qualitative method with a normative-constructive theological analysis design through three stages: doctrinal exposition, thematic-conceptual analysis, and theological construction. The primary sources include the writings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and John Calvin, integrated with contemporary theological scholarship and interdisciplinary literature on child grooming. The findings demonstrate that child grooming should not be understood merely as an individual sexual offense but as a progressive manifestation of sin rooted in the disordered will, incurvatus in se, libido dominandi, and the gradual normalization of moral transgression. Within the Reformed tradition, the understanding of children as covenant children further reinforces that grooming constitutes a direct violation of the seal of God's covenant within the community of His people. This study proposes progressive sin as a systematic theological category that enriches the Christian doctrine of sin while providing a theological foundation for more preventive, structural, and prophetic ecclesial responses to child sexual abuse and child protection. ]]>
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