Sex-crimes survey cites youth, violence
STOCKTON, Calif. – Courts have seen the number of sex offense cases involving juvenile offenders rise dramatically in recent years, a review of national statistics found, and treatment professionals say offenders are getting younger and the crimes more violent.
Some psychologists blame the increase in numbers – 40 percent over two decades – on a society saturated with sex and violence and the fact that many of the accused were victims of adult sexual predators. Others say there aren’t more children committing such crimes, simply more awareness, better reporting and a general hysteria about sex offenders.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to suggest we have whole schools full of sexual predators … but we’re seeing more of it and more sexually aggressive acts,” said Scott Poland, past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. “How do these kids even know about this? It’s permeated throughout our society.”
Robert Prentky, a psychologist and nationally renowned expert on sex offenders in Bridgewater, Mass., thinks the statistics are misleading.
“There aren’t more kids, there are more laws,” he said. “We now have fairly draconian laws with very harsh sanctions that apply to juveniles.”
The number of children under 18 accused of forcible rape, violent and nonviolent sex offenses rose from 24,100 in 1985 to 33,800 in 2004, the analysis found. Violent offenses include attempted rape and sexual assault, while nonviolent offenses including fondling, statutory rape and prostitution.
By comparison, rape and sexual assaults by adults decreased more than 56 percent from 1993 to 2004. Comparable statistics were unavailable before 1993.
The Associated Press analyzed state and federal crime statistics, as well as independent research on juvenile sex offenders. Sources included the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that specializes in statistical and policy research; and The Safer Society Foundation Inc., a Vermont nonprofit that works to prevent sexual abuse.
Sharon Araji, an Alaska psychologist who took one of the first broad looks at the problem in her book “Sexually Aggressive Children,” thinks the number of child-on-child sex crimes is higher than the statistics indicate.
Only 28 percent of all violent sexual assaults are reported to police, according to a 1999 National Crime Victimization Survey. And cases of incest between siblings are widely thought to be underreported and may drive the numbers even higher, Araji says.
“The whole society is not yet up on this problem,” Araji said. “These kids, on the extreme end, if nothing is done to catch them, they’re going to become our adult offenders of tomorrow.”
Studies show that one in two sex offenders began their sexually abusive behavior as juveniles.
The rise in juvenile sex offenders has spawned hundreds of new treatment facilities for children as young as 5.
In 2002, there were 937 programs in the U.S. treating adolescent offenders – generally ages 12-17 – up from 346 in 1986.
During the same period, the list of programs aimed at children younger than 12 grew from zero to 410, according to The Safer Society Foundation.
However, Franklin Zimring, a juvenile justice expert at the University of California at Berkeley, thinks many children are unnecessarily treated as sex offenders. True pedophiles are rare among young people, he says.
“As long as the public temperature is up, you’re going to get more referrals from the courts for treatment,” he said. “If you don’t want to lock a kid up, treatment is a politically safe outcome.”