NCJ Number
236089
Date Published
September 2011
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This report from the Australian Institute of Criminology examines five common misperceptions about child sex offenders.
Abstract
Realizing that the sexual abuse of children is a serious problem in Australia, and that it is difficult to ascertain the extent of the problem due to the wide variety of behaviors associated with it, this paper examines five common misperceptions about child sex offenders. By examining these misperceptions, the author hopes to improve the criminal justice system's understanding of these offenders in order to better protect children from sexual abuse. The five misperceptions are: 1) all child sex offenders are pedophiles; 2) child sex offenders target strangers; 3) all child sex offenders were victims of sexual abuse themselves; 4) child sex offenders have high rates of recidivism; and 5) by the time an offender is detected, he has victimized hundreds of children. This report examines these misperceptions and presents evidence to counter these misperceptions. The findings from the report indicate that child sex offenders are a heterogeneous group with varying offender profiles; that children are usually abused by someone they know, not strangers; not all child sex offenders have been victims themselves, and that complex relationships exist between the abused and the abuser; and that it is difficult to accurately determine the number of children that an offender may have abused before he was detected. Figure and references