Read these 11 Sex Offender Statistics Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Child Protection tips and hundreds of other topics.
Child sexual molestation and sexual abuse consists of inappropriate and illegal touching of a child in a sexual manner, or the sexual exploitation of children by taking pictures and videos of children posed or acting in a sexual manner. Child molestation ranges from having the child undress, to touching the child's genitals in a sexual manner, to forcing the child to perform oral sex, to actual sexual intercourse with the child. Chronic child molesters prefer either their own gender or the opposite gender as sexual partners. Many times, they understand that their behavior is both unlawful and morally wrong in our society, but they are unable to control their sexual impulses. Other child molesters, called pedophiles, don't believe their their behavior is wrong and that the child actually enjoys having sex with adults. In summary, child molestation is unlawful sexual contact of any type with a child under the age of consent for sexual acts.
According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, on any given day there are approximately 234,000 sex offenders who were convicted of rape or sexual assault and are in the custody or control of correction agencies. Consider the following statistics:
* The median age of the victims of convicted sex offenders was less than 13 years old.
* Approximately 24% of those offenders confined for rape and 19% of those imprisoned for sexual assault had been on parole or probation at the time of the crime.
* In one year alone, approximately 4,300 child molesters in 15 states were released from imprisonment.
* Of the 4,300 child molesters released, approximately 3.3% were rearrested within three years for another sex offense against a child.
According to the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities by the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than half of violent offenders had victims age 12 or younger. The most common violent crimes by convicted sex offenders include the following:
* Fondling
* Child molestation
* Indecent practices
* Forcible rape
* Manslaughter
* Forcible sodomy
* Statutory rape
* Lewd acts with children
* Other sexual assaults
According to a U. S. Department of Justice, a study done by the National Child Protection Act of 1993 found the following statistics.
* Approximately one in five convicted offenders against children had victimized a child under the age of 18.
* Younger inmates weren't as likely as older inmates to victimize children.
* Eight out of ten convicted sex offenders had committed a sexual assault against a child under 18.
* Nineteen percent of inmates convicted of a violent crime committed that crime against a child.
* Of the those inmates who were convicted for sexual assault, a child was the victim in 78% of the cases.
* Seven out of ten sexual offenders reported that they were convicted of a rape or sexual assault.
According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, 5% of convicted sex offenders were re-arrested for another sex offense within three years of their release from confinement.
Consider the following statistics:
* Within three years of their release, 5.3% of national sex offenders were rearrested for another sex crime. When including all other crimes, the percentage of sex offenders that were rearrested is estimated at 43%.
* While convicted sex offenders were not as likely as non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any crime, they were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for a sexual offense.
* Those convicted sex offenders who had the highest rate of rearrest of another sex crime typically had a criminal record of arrests for various crimes.
* Of those released sex offenders who were accused of another sex crime, 40% were arrested for the new offense with a year after their release.
The following statistics were taken from the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.
* In one year alone, approximately 4,300 child molesters in 15 states were released from confinement.
* Of the 4,300 child molesters released, approximately 3.3% were rearrested within three years for another sex offense against a child.
* Child molesters were on average approximately five years older than those sex offenders whose victims were adults.
* Approximately 25% of child molesters were age 40 or older.
* Among those child molesters who were released in that one year, 60% had been confined for molesting a child 13 years of younger.
U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics has combined a study of characteristics among those child victims of convicted sex offenders and child molesters. These statistics are based on the reports of offenders in the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities, and include the following:
* Three out of four children who were victimized were female.
* One-third of the covicted offenders had committed a crime against their own child.
* About half of the convicted offenders had a relationship with the child, either through friends or family.
* Only one out of seven inmates reported that their child victim was a stranger.
* Four out of ten child victims suffered forcible rape or another injury from child molesters.
Because convicted sex offenders and child molesters may already have a prior record, and because the risk for rearrest is high among sex offenders, many judges impose a special sentencing for those convicted. Some convicted sex offenders and child molesters might be ordered to go into psychiatric treatment and/or counseling. They may also be ordered to attend a sex offender treatment program.
* According to the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities, the judge ordered approximately 13% of child victimizers into a treatment program.
* Approximately 29% of convicted child molesters who were confined for forcible sodomy of a child were ordered into a sex offender treatment program.
The following statistics were taken from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics' Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities concerning the characteristics of offenders who commit violent crimes against children. They include the following:
* More than three-fourths of violent crimes against children occurred either in the offender's home or the victim's place of residence.
* More than half of the negligent manslaughter offenders' crimes occurred in a public place, such as a park or a street.
* Eight out of ten crimes by convicted sex offenders and/or child molesters in their own homes were forcible rapes or sexual assaults.
* Only one in seven offenders reported using a weapon to perpetrate the offense against the child victim.
* More than 40% of the child victims of convicted offenders suffered forcible, rape, injury or death as a result of the crime.
According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 9,700 convicted sex offenders who were released in one year alone.
* Nearly 4,300 of the 9,700 were labeled child molesters.
* Of the 4,300 child molesters that were released in that one year, 3.3% were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within three years of their release.
* A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey shows that the victims of approximately 70% of the convicted sex offenders were children.
* In almost half of the the child molestation cases, the child was the convicted sex offender's son, daughter, or relative.
* The average sentence given to the 4,300 child molesters was approximately seven years, with three of seven years typically being served.
According to the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, the following statistics have been recorded concerning the characteristics of offenders who violate and assault children.
* Those inmates who were convicted of committing violent acts against children were more like to have been white, a percentage of nearly 70%, than any other race.
* White inmates were nearly three times more likely to have victimized a child than black inmates.
* About one in every seven Hispanic convicts had been convicted for a crime against a child.
* Nearly two-thirds of convicted child molesters and/or offenders were or had been married.
* Child molesters and offenders were more likely to have grown up in a two parent home and were more likely to have been molested as a child.
* Approximately 22% of child offenders reported having been sexually abused as a child.
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