Differences in Sexual Interest in Children Between Men Who Commit Undetected Versus Detected Sexual Offenses

Abstract

This study examined whether men who committed undetected sexual offenses would show more evidence of sexual interest in children than their detected counterparts. It also considered whether denial or minimization of offending history explained observed differences between undetected and detected men. In an archival database of 2,236 men, 96 were undetected and the remainder were detected men who varied in the extent to which they admitted their offending: complete deniers, partial deniers, those who admitted their offense history, and those who disclosed additional unknown offenses. There were differences in self-reported sexual interest in children, but relatively few differences when sexual interest in children was assessed by phallometry or sexual victim history. There were no differences between undetected and detected men who admitted to additional victims. The results suggest that denial is likely more important in understanding group differences on sexual interest in children than detection status.

Do Sanctions Affect Undetected Sexual Offending?

“…Having undetected sexual offenses and prior sanctions for sexual offenses also do not appear to be associated with increased deviant sexual interests. Stephens et al (2021) found no differences in phallometric results amongst those who had detected child victims (but denied undetected child victims), reported both detected and undetected child victims, and only had undetected child victims per self-report (i.e., no detected/sanctioned sexual offenses). However, those who were willing to report undetected child victims/ offending had higher scores on the Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests, Version 2 (SSPI-2; Seto et al, 2017).…”

“…Beyond the inherent difficulty of measuring unknown events, there are differences in defining what undetected sexual offending is, methods for studying frequency rates, and how to account for individual differences in offending behavior. Previous studies have relied on surveys or interviews of potential victims (Koss et al, 1987) and potential offenders (Abel et al, 1987;Koss et al, 1987;Lauritsen & Rezey, 2013;Lisak & Miller, 2002;Sinozich & Langton, 2014;Stephens et al, 2021) in the community. Other studies have used self-report interviews or questionnaires of those in custody for other sexual offenses (Bourke & Hernandez, 2009;DeLisi et al, 2016;Drury et al, 2020;Groth et al, 1982;Weinrott & Saylor, 1991), and reports of clinicians or community supervising agents (Falshaw et al, 2003).…”

Risk assessment of child-pornography-exclusive offenders.

“…Future studies of recidivism in this domain should include a self-report or a collateral report component, as has been done by researchers studying the risk of violence committed by discharged psychiatric patients (Hardin & Scurich, 2022;Monahan et al, 2001). This approach would produce more accurate estimates of recidivism and examine whether risk factors for detected recidivists are different than the risk factors for nondetected recidivists (e.g., Stephens et al, 2021Stephens et al, , 2023.…”