Offenders Incarcerated for Crimes Against Juveniles

Abstract

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to

Explanations for the Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases

“…Although detailed data are insufficient to conduct a careful analysis of the possible impact of incarceration on sexual abuse, the overall pattern is certainly consistent with the idea that increased incarceration played a part in a true decline. Surveys of state correctional facilities suggest that between 1991 and 1997, the number of persons incarcerated in state correctional facilities for sex crimes against children increased 39 percent, from 43,500 to 60,700 (Finkelhor and Ormrod, 2001), after more than doubling from 19,900 in 1986. This does not include the many sexual abuse offenders who receive sanctions that do not involve incarceration for a year or more.…”

Why Have Child Maltreatment and Child Victimization Declined?

“…One type of youth victimization, though, that may have been affected by increased incarceration is sexual abuse. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics data, there was a tripling in the number of child sex offenders incarcerated in state prisons between 1986 and 1997, up from 19,000 to over 63,000 (Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2001b) and it was almost certainly quite a bit higher by 2005. High frequency offenders are more likely to get incarcerated, so potentially small increases in incarceration of high‐volume offenders can have large effects on the overall offense rate.…”

The Justice System for Juvenile Victims

“…fenders against adolescents, who did tend to receive shorter sentences. There was no evidence of a leniency bias in favor of those offending against younger children (Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2001). …”

“…There has been considerable media concern about whether offenders against juveniles receive unusually lenient sentences. An analysis of sentences from a national sample of offenders incarcerated in state correctional facilities found that some of the disparities in sentencing were explained by the fact that offenders against juveniles are less likely to be recidivists, less likely to use weapons, and less likely to be strangers to their victims, factors that are associated with sentence length (Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2001). There were still some sentencing disparities related to victim age even after controlling for such variables; however, they all related to of-Across 14 studies of prosecution of child abuse, the mean incarceration rate was 54% of convicted offenders, although these rates varied from 24% to 96%.…”