NCJ Number
217457
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2007 Pages: 149-163
Date Published
February 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the proportion of sex offenders in England and Wales who targeted a variety of victims ("crossover"), as measured by victim age, gender, and relationship to the offender; offender criminal and demographic variables predictive of "crossover" were identified.
Abstract
Of the total sample of 1,345 adult male sex offenders, 24.5 percent (n=330) exhibited crossover behavior for at least 1 of the victim characteristics examined. Eight percent (n=108) had offended against both children and adults. Nine percent (n=121) had offended against both males and females; and 14 percent (n=189) had offended against victims both within and outside their own family. These findings indicate that many sex offenders present a risk to a much wider range of potential victims than may be apparent from their current sex offense. Overall, age at first court appearance for a sex offense and age at discharge were significantly predictive of crossover. The older an offender at first court appearance, the less likely he was to have crossed over. All of the sample of 1,345 adult male sex offenders had offended against multiple victims and had been discharged from custody in England and Wales between 1992 and 1996. Offense summaries in police records were used to collect victim details for each conviction for a sex offense for each offender. Criminal conviction histories were obtained from the Offenders Index. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 41 references