Victim and offender characteristic of all registered adult female sexual offenders in Texas (N = 471) were examined. The most common offenses the females were arrested for were indecency with a child--sexual contact, sexual assault on a child, and aggravated sexual assault on a child. The majority (88%) of the females were Caucasian and the ages ranged from 18 to 77 (M = 32). The results of Hierarchical Loglinear Modeling yielded a complex relationship between offender and victim characteristics; thus, identification of preferred victims is mitigated by more than one variable. Additionally, the employment of cluster analysis yielded 6 types of female sexual offenders. The most common group includes 146 offenders, heterosexual nurturers. They were the least likely to have an arrest for a sexual assault. The victims were males who averaged 12 years of age. The other types of offenders included, noncriminal homosexual offenders, female sexual predators, young adult child exploiters, homosexual criminals, and aggressive homosexual offenders.

Victim and offender characteristic of all registered adult female sexual offenders in Texas (N = 471) were examined. The most common offenses the females were arrested for were indecency with a child--sexual contact, sexual assault on a child, and aggravated sexual assault on a child. The majority (88%) of the females were Caucasian and the ages ranged from 18 to 77 (M = 32). The results of Hierarchical Loglinear Modeling yielded a complex relationship between offender and victim characteristics; thus, identification of preferred victims is mitigated by more than one variable. Additionally, the employment of cluster analysis yielded 6 types of female sexual offenders. The most common group includes 146 offenders, heterosexual nurturers. They were the least likely to have an arrest for a sexual assault. The victims were males who averaged 12 years of age. The other types of offenders included, noncriminal homosexual offenders, female sexual predators, young adult child exploiters, homosexual criminals, and aggressive homosexual offenders.

Although a great deal of literature pertains to male sex offenders, it is not known whether these research findings are applicable to female sex offenders because little empirical research regarding female sex offenders exists. Currently, females make up approximately one percent to two percent of all sex offenders. This article includes a case review of the 40 registered female sex offenders in the state of Arkansas. The female sex offenders are compared to the registered male sex offenders in Arkansas. The majority of the female sex offenders were found to be Caucasian with an average age of 31 at the time of the first sex offense. Most of the offenders had a history of only one sex offense with no other criminal history. Most of the offenders were arrested for rape or first-degree sexual abuse. Females were slightly younger the male sex offenders at the time of arrest for their initial sex offense. Females were significantly more likely to be first-time offeders at the time of rest for their first sex offenders. The article concludes that female sex offenders differ slightly from males, indicating the need for the development of a new sex offender typology.

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Even though much of the prior sex offender literature focuses on males, recent research has included females as offenders. Such research, however, has been limited by small sample sizes. Several researchers have proposed typologies of female sex offenders that include both females who act alone (i.e., solo offenders) and females who act with another person (i.e., co-offenders), often a male. The current research includes a cross-national sample of 123 females who were solo offenders and 104 who were co-offenders. It was found that the two groups of females were not significantly different in regard to their age, race, time of offense, and the location of the offense. Co-offenders were more likely than solo offenders to have more than one victim, to have both male and female victims, to be related to the victim, and to have a nonsexual offense in addition to the sexual offense listed.