NCJ Number
212932
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 140-146
Date Published
January 2006
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on a literature review of published cases of autoerotic-related deaths from 1954 to 2004, with attention to those cases with relatively rare circumstances among the sample.
Abstract
The review excluded any cases determined to be homicide or that did not involve a solitary pursuit of autoerotic stimulation. Most autoerotic-related deaths over the last 50 years involved accidental asphyxia in the course of pursuing erotic stimulation of the central nervous system through hanging, ligature, rebreathing in plastic bags with gas, or the use of chemical substances. Atypical cases of autoerotic-related deaths have involved electrocution, overdressing/body wrapping, insertion of a foreign body, unusual methods of asphyxiation, immersion/drowning, and "miscellaneous." Unusual methods of asphyxiation included chest compression and inverted or abdominal suspension. Victims were predominantly White males, ages 9 to 77 years old; they were most often found in indoor locations. The cases of autoerotic-related deaths were obtained through a systematic Medline database search, yielding 408 cases of such deaths reported in 57 articles. For each case, the following characteristics are provided: sex, age, race, method of autoerotic activity, cause of death, and location where the body was found. 3 tables and 59 references