on my course, grooming was understood as the inevitable path towards the crimimal act that got us on the course to start with, regardless of whether the groomer was consciously aware that he was grooming or not. It was understood that each of us 'groomed' in some particular way in order to end up breaking the law, and we were expected to both accept and discuss this. If we didnt accept it, then the rest of the group was obliged to try to point out to us the real motives behind our actions.
If the grooming did not result in the law being broken (if the pictures were not illegal or the person wasn't underage) then it wasnt grooming, so grooming is really a term used by criminologists.