Percentage of Named Offenders on the Registry at the Time of the Assault

Sex offender registries were designed to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and future sexual violence. This study determines the percentage of clients seen at a sexual assault agency whose attacker was on the registry at the time the attack occurred. According to case files, only 3.7% of the identified offenders could possibly have been identified as a registered sex offender at the time of the attack. While considering the limitations of this methodology, the findings highlight a significant limitation of registries and support the idea that registries cannot be relied on exclusively to prevent sexual abuse.