Public Opinions on Applying Adult Sex Offender Legislation to Minors Convicted of Sex Crimes

• Author: Lisa L. Sample,Calli M. Cain
• DOI: 10.1177/08874034211046327
• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Date: 01 April 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034211046327

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2022, Vol. 33(3) 235 –255

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/08874034211046327

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Article

Public Opinions on Applying

Adult Sex Offender

Legislation to Minors

Convicted of Sex Crimes

Calli M. Cain1 and Lisa L. Sample2

Abstract

A controversial part of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) mandates that states require

minors adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to be on the sex offender registry,

but not all states have complied. Our article examines how far the public in one

Midwestern state that has not complied with the AWA is willing to go to manage

juvenile sex offenders. We use a statewide survey of adults to examine attitudes

toward applying adult sex offender penalties to minors adjudicated of a sex crime

(residency restrictions, prohibitions from public schools, school zones, public parks,

and social networking sites). Results indicate more than half (60%) of participants

agreed that juveniles should be on the public sex offender registry. However, there

was less consensus on how punitively juveniles should be treated compared with

adult sex offenders. Results indicated which demographics in this state were more

likely to hold punitive views toward juvenile sex offenders.

Keywords

juvenile sex offenders, sex offender notification, public opinion, punishment,

community perceptions

A growing body of literature has investigated public opinion on applying adult sex

offender laws, particularly sex offender registration and notification (SORN), to

minors adjudicated of crimes of a sexual nature (Campregher & Jeglic, 2016; Harris &

1Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

2University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA

Corresponding Author:

Calli M. Cain, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road,

SO Room 211, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.

Email: cainc@fau.edu

1046327CJPXXX10.1177/08874034211046327Criminal Justice Policy ReviewCain and Sample

research-article2021

236 Criminal Justice Policy Review 33(3)

Socia, 2014; Salerno et al., 2010; Stevenson et al., 2013). Most studies find that the

public supports placing juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) on adult sex offender registries

but releasing this information to the public is mixed. For instance, in a national sample

of community members, Harris and Socia (2014) found slightly more than half of

participants (53.6%) agreed or strongly agreed that JSOs should be placed on public

sex offense registries. Conversely, Salerno and colleagues (2014) found support for

juveniles on sex offender registries is ambiguous, depending on sampling frame and

how survey questions are asked. Most recently, Budd and Johnston (2021) found peo-

ple were more likely to support public notification of juvenile females (≥14 years old)

if they thought law enforcement was effective in their investigations of the alleged sex

crime and when they had greater concern for public safety. However, SORN policies

are not the only laws applied to adult sex offenders.

In many states, registration and notification is accompanied by laws prohibiting

convicted sex offenders from living in or near school zones, and from being on school

property (Sample, 2011). Adults convicted of sex offenses are often prohibited from

dwelling in public parks and are often banned from social networking sites (Wynton,

2011). Despite punitive attitudes toward sex offenders of any age (Mancini, 2014), this

study examines if the public is ready to apply several adult sex offender policies to

youth adjudicated for sexual crimes in one Midwestern state. The importance of

answering this question in this state is that it has yet to comply with JSO registration

and other adult-type restrictions for minors adjudicated on sex crimes. We believe the

answer for why this state continues to be reticent to treat adjudicated juveniles as adult

sex offenders lies in public opinion and its effect on law making.

The purpose and our broad research question for this article is how far the public is

willing to go to manage minors adjudicated for sex crimes in the community. We ask

citizens in one Midwestern state if minors adjudicated for crimes of a sexual nature

should be treated the same as adult sex offenders. Moving beyond simply asking the

public about the application of SORN laws to minors, we asked if other adult sex

offender laws should be applied to juveniles adjudicated of a sex crime, such as prohi-

bitions from public schools, school zones, public parks, and social networking sites—

all regulations that currently apply to convicted adult sex offenders. These questions

are founded on the theoretical notions of Rietbergen-McCracken (2017) and participa-

tory policymaking.

Background

There is considerable variability across states regarding the registration and community

notification of JSOs (Harris & Lobanov-Rostovsky, 2010; Office of Sex Offender

Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking [SMART], 2019).

Some states have included minors adjudicated for sex crimes on adult sex offender reg-

istry websites, whereas others have created juvenile-specific registries only accessible to

criminal justice professionals and educators. Still other states have refused to register

convicted sex offenders who are below the age of 18 years unless they were tried as

adults. This variability across states concerning juvenile registration was so stark,