Juvenile Sex Offenses

• Author: Stephanie Tabashneck
• Pages: 143-159

143

Chapter

Juvenile Sex Offenses

Stephanie Tabashneck

9

We can no longer dismiss sex-related activity by youth as “kids being kids,” in

large part because so much conduct, including conduct facilitated by social

media, has been criminalized. This chapter by Dr. Stephanie Tabashneck

examines how juveniles charged with sex offenses are different from their

adult counterparts. As was presented in the earlier chapter by Dr. Antoinette

Kavanaugh on juveniles, children and adolescents have higher incidences

of mental disabilities than do adults in the criminal justice system and they

are more likely to have experienced abuse and witnessed trauma. Over

one-quarter of all sex offenders are under the age of eighteen. And a sig-

nificant portion of those offenses are committed by juveniles against other

minors. As criminal defense lawyers, we should know that relative to adults,

kids charged with sex offenses are more amenable to treatment and have

lower rates of recidivism.

• • •

Youth are responsible for a significant portion of sex crimes in the United

States. This chapter will explore the phenomenon of juvenile sexual miscon-

duct and unique considerations for youth with psychological and neurode-

velopmental impairments, including autism spectrum disorder, intellectual

impairment, posttraumatic stress disorder, conduct disorder, and paraphilic

disorders. The chapter will end with a discussion of risk assessment and

recommendations for working with forensic expert evaluators.

Juvenile sex offenders come to the attention of law enforcement for

a wide variety of crimes, including sexual assault, sharing pornography

144 • Representing People with Mental Disabilities

with other minors, “sexting,” rape, and inappropriate sexual conduct with

children. The true frequency of juvenile sexual misconduct is difficult

to capture as over two-thirds of sex crimes are unreported. This prob-

lem is exacerbated in juvenile sex crimes for several reasons. Some illegal

juvenile sexual conduct, when disclosed, is kept private and stays within

the family. It is also common for the victims of juvenile sex crimes to be

too young to articulate that they have been abused. Further, when juve-

nile sexual misconduct is reported to law enforcement, it may not lead

to arrest. But even taking into consideration these caveats, it is estimated

that over one-quarter of all sex offenders are under the age of eighteen.

Each year, children and adolescents are arrested for over 2,000 forcible

rapes and approximately 8,300 other sex offenses. More than one-third

of sex offenses committed against minors are perpetrated by a youth as

well as nearly half of child molestations. Sexual homicides perpetrated by

juveniles make up 12 percent of all sexual homicide arrests. Almost half of

adult sex offenders report they first sexually offended in adolescence.

There is considerable variability in juvenile sexual misconduct including

the extent of premeditation, the use of weapons during assault, the age of

the victim, and the setting of the assault. However, youth who commit sex

crimes share some common characteristics. Consistently, juveniles offend

against victims they know, and over 90 percent of victims are family mem-

bers or acquaintances. Over 90 percent of youth convicted of sex crimes are

male. On measures of intelligence, as a whole, they score 8 to 20 IQ points

below the general population average of 100. Juveniles who sexually offend

tend to experience elevated rates of affective dysregulation, anxiety, and low

self-esteem as well as higher rates of physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse,

trauma, and family instability, including parental alcoholism, parental men-

tal illness, and parental criminal history. These offenders also are likely to

have poor social skills, academic difficulties, and school misconduct.

Myths about Juveniles Who Sexually Offend

Children and adolescents arrested for sex crimes represent one of the

most poorly understood delinquency groups. Research suggests that when

members of the public are asked to envision juvenile sex offenders, they

erroneously conjure up images of hardened “superpredators” who employ

weapons and brutal violence. In a public opinion survey conducted by

the Center for Sex Offender Management in 2010, 66 percent of 1,005