In studying a sample of convicted sex offenders of elderly victims, this study sought to provide an understanding of the motive behind committing such a heinous crime.
The opportunistic and non-sadistic rapists committed the lowest level crimes of no penetration. Offenders classified as pervasive anger and vindictive had the highest severity of crime scores and committed the full range of crimes from no penetration to multiple rapes and murders. The predicting factors by severity of crime were expressive aggression, mood state-anger, victim restrained, and offense planning. Continued research is recommended on gerontophilia to discern if this behavior constitutes a paraphilia. The rape or sexual assault of an elder is a felony. A common question that arises when describing elder rape victims is one that focuses on the offender’s motive for committing such a heinous crime. In an attempt to answer this question, a sample of 77 convicted sex offenders of elderly victims was classified by severity of and motivation for the crime. Tables, references