Juvenile sex offenses: finding justice.

• Author: Ratnayake, A. Ann

Approximately 30% of all sexual assaults on children are committed by perpetrators under the age of 18. (1) To assist prosecutors in fashioning an effective response to these crimes, this article summarizes current research related to juvenile sexual recidivism, charging options available to prosecutors, and treatment methods and registration requirements imposed at disposition.

DECIPHERING RISK OF SEXUAL RECIDIVISM

When tailoring a response to juvenile sex crimes, an important factor to consider is the likelihood the juvenile perpetrator will commit future sexual offenses. Research shows that for the majority of juveniles who commit a sexual offense, sex offender treatment works. (2) Only 9-15% has been shown to sexually reoffend in spite of treatment. (3) While no magic litmus test exists, the factors outlined below may assist in assessing the risk of recidivism.

Children: Younger Than 12 Years of Age

Children younger than 12 who initiate inappropriate sexual behaviors fall into a special subgroup. (4) If given appropriate short-term outpatient treatment, the likelihood a child in this subgroup will commit another sex crime is only 2-3%. (5) The younger the child is in age, the more likely he or she is only mimicking behaviors seen or repeating behaviors the child has experienced. For the practitioner working with this subgroup, an initial step should include screening these children and their siblings for sexual abuse. (6) While each situation should be considered on a case-by-case basis, applying for a child protection petition to ensure that the child gets treatment may be the best course of action.

Adolescents: 12-18 Years of Age

Potential Risk Assessment Factors

Research connects certain adolescent behaviors to increased rates of sexual recidivism. However, other adolescent behaviors colloquially associated with sexual recidivism have not been validated.

Factors linked to an increased risk of sexual recidivism include:

* reporting deviant sexual fantasies with an interest in prepubescent children and/or sexual violence; (7)

* committing sex crimes despite prior charges or conviction of a sexual offense; (8)

* committing sexual offenses against more than one victim; (9)

* targeting a stranger as a victim; (10)

* unwillingness/inability to form peer relationships, or social isolation for other reasons; and"

* unwillingness/inability to participate in treatment. (12)

On the other hand, research indicates the adolescent's own history of sexual victimization, and/or history of nonsexual offending is not predictive of future sex crimes. (13) To date no relationship has been identified between degree of sexual contact (e.g., penetration), and sexual recidivism in adolescents. (14) Lastly, research has not linked denial of sexual crimes to higher sexual recidivism rates in adolescents. (15) Understanding these factors may prove helpful when structuring a response to these offenses.

Risk Assessment Tools

For adolescents who have a history of sexually delinquent behavior, empirically guided checklists are available to assess risk of sexual recidivism. (16) The checklists are comprised of a set of scaled factors research has linked to sexual re-offending. A trained professional can use the scale to assign a risk level. (17) Currently, JSOAP-II and ERASOR are the most favored empirically guided checklists for adolescents. (18) Both are designed to assess risk of sexual recidivism for approximately six months into the future for adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age. (19) While JSOAP-II is designed to assess risk in adolescent males, ERASOR can be used with females as well as males. (20) Structured professional judgments, using empirically guided checklists, are considered more accurate than unstructured clinical judgments. (21) These assessments should only be used as part of an evaluation conducted by a qualified professional.

Actuarial risk assessment instruments measure the statistical probability of sexual recidivism by comparing a person's assessment score to a large sample size of offenders who were tracked for a period of...