Sexual Abuse

Studies have produced equivocal findings regarding whether sex offenders are stable in their choice of victims. Indeed, it remains unclear whether a sex offender’s subsequent victims are typically of the same gender, age range, and victim–perpetrator relationship as that of the initial victim. Although some differences may be attributed to methodological disparities, others are not. This study sought to clarify this question by examining the tendency of sex offenders to switch from one type of victim to another, both within an index offense and across offenses and all victims. Archival records of 789 incarcerated sex offenders were examined. Of those offenders who had multiple victims at the index offense (n = 279), 13% had victims of both genders, 14% had victims in different age categories (child, adolescent, and adult), and 13% had varying relationships with the victims (i.e., family member, acquaintance, or stranger). When the records of those with past sexual convictions were examined (n = 208), 20% of offenders had a prior victim of a different gender; 40% crossed over across age categories, and 48% of the repeat offenders had varying relationships with the victim across convictions. Offenders who had both male and female victims and offenders who had victims of varied relationship status across crimes had higher Static-99 risk scores than offenders who were more stable with regard to victim selection. These findings are compared to those of previous studies, focusing on how these results add clarity to a previous literature whose conclusions were challenged by the use of disparate sampling and research methodologies.

Previous studies found associations between children and sex in child sex offenders (CSOs) using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). We used a modification of this task, the Single Category–Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) to unravel child-sex associations in CSOs. Using the SC-IAT, we were able to test whether CSOs indeed hold stronger child-sex associations relative to adult-sex associations, compared to adult sex offenders and nonoffenders. Furthermore, we examined whether contact CSOs differed from noncontact CSOs in their child-sex associations. The hypothesis that CSOs would have stronger child-sex associations, relative to their adult-sex associations, than adult sex offenders and nonoffenders was confirmed. No difference between contact CSOs and noncontact CSOs was found. Although the Sex SC-IAT was able to distinguish CSOs from nonoffenders, the sensitivity and specificity of the test was poor (AUC of .65) and needs refinement. The results of this study support the existence of a child-sex association as a distinctive characteristic of CSOs. These findings are discussed in the context of theories on deviant cognitions in CSOs and risk for sexual offending.

Cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) referred to the District Attorney (DA) are not necessarily accepted for prosecution. Two pilot studies sought to investigate whether there were gender differences in whether cases of CSA referred to the DA’s office were accepted by the DA and, if they existed, what might account for gender differences in decisions to accept cases and file charges. The results of the first study indicated that cases involving male victims were significantly less likely to be accepted for prosecution than cases involving female victims. Comparisons of acceptance rates were based on expected frequencies given CSA prevalence rates by gender in the literature and on the proportion of males and females seen at a Child Abuse Assessment Center (CAAC) from where the DA referrals were obtained. The second study assessed both disclosure-related variables (assessed by content analyses of disclosures made at a CAAC) and abuse-related variables (that occurred at or near the time of the abuse) that might explain these differences. Few variables were found to significantly differentiate males’ and females’ cases; these were the relationship of the child to the perpetrator, whether the child was offended by a juvenile, whether the child told someone of the abuse, pornography exposure, whether the child displayed concerning behaviors, and whether the child was questioned about possible abuse. Implications of these results are discussed.

Given the widespread use of empirical actuarial risk tools in corrections and forensic mental health, it is important that evaluators and decision makers understand how scores relate to recidivism risk. In the current study, we found strong evidence for a relative risk interpretation of Static-99R scores using 8 samples from Canada, United Kingdom, and Western Europe (N = 4,037 sex offenders). Each increase in Static-99R score was associated with a stable and consistent increase in relative risk (as measured by an odds ratio or hazard ratio of approximately 1.4). Hazard ratios from Cox regression were used to calculate risk ratios that can be reported for Static-99R. We recommend that evaluators consider risk ratios as a useful, nonarbitrary metric for quantifying and communicating risk information. To avoid misinterpretation, however, risk ratios should be presented with recidivism base rates.

This study reviewed the records of 198 juveniles who were committed to secured custody after being adjudicated delinquent for a sexually violent offense that qualified them for possible commitment under a Sexually Violent Person’s (SVP) civil commitment law. For an individual to be committed, the statute requires that the individual have a qualifying mental disorder and is “likely,” to commit a future act of sexual violence. Each youth was screened by at least two expert examiners in a two-step process. Fifty-four of the youth were found to meet the commitment criteria in an initial examination and were subject to an SVP petition. The remaining 144 were screened out. Subsequent criminal charges were collected over a 4.97-year mean follow-up. The results showed that the prevalence rates for general sexual offending and felony sexual offending did not differ between youth who were screened out and those who were subject to a petition. Among petitioned youth, 11.76% were charged with a new sexual offense including 9.80% who were charged with a felony sexual assault. By comparison, 17.36% of the youth that were screened out were charged with a sexual offense including 13.19% who were charged with a felony sexual assault, a nonsignificant difference.