Pedophillia and re-offending.

[Bikewer]

From what reading I have done in the area of paraphilia, I would say that it's the consensus that these conditions do not go away. The individual (unless put on potent drug therapy, IE="chemical castration") remains a pedophile (or whatever "phile")
It may be that a lower re-arrest incidence is due to other factors, such as the individual becoming more circumspect in their activities...

 

[Dancing David]

Dustin:

Would not this:

(c) A finding not resulting in an acquittal at a hearing for the alleged commission or attempted commission of the offense.

Mean that if a grand jury finds there is sufficient evidence to procede with a trial that you have to register, even if you are found not guilty?

(I am not a lawyer.)

 

[Dancing David]

From what reading I have done in the area of paraphilia, I would say that it's the consensus that these conditions do not go away. The individual (unless put on potent drug therapy, IE="chemical castration") remains a pedophile (or whatever "phile")
It may be that a lower re-arrest incidence is due to other factors, such as the individual becoming more circumspect in their activities...

My guwess and it is solely a guess is that there are those who do something when they are young, such as having consensual sex with another minor and get the label, and those who make a poor choice in other regards.

And then there are those very messed up ones that are attracted to inappropriate partners (unwilling). These are the sexual predators who are likely to reoffend.

The real issue is in the way the judicial system works, as a children's advocate at a DV shelter and someone doing intakes for mental health i encountered many young adults and children with many different stories. It is far too common for a young person to be sexually assaulted (inappropriate grabbing of breasts and requests for sex) by a respected memeber of the community and they are sometimes not charged with a crime or they get some form of conditional discharge that keeps the felony off the books. Or they plea to some other offense.

The system slams the ones with less money and power while those with money and power often get to skate.

Then there is the whole messy family dynamic thing which creates an atmoshpere where abuse can occur and be ignored or denied, abuse can occur but the family is more focused on getting away without getting killed.

The legal system is failing in those respects, but trhe personal liberty of choice of the family members is also part of the equation.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Dustin:

Would not this:


Mean that if a grand jury finds there is sufficient evidence to procede with a trial that you have to register, even if you are found not guilty?

(I am not a lawyer.)

It says "not resulting in an acquittal". Meaning if there is a trial and then an acquittal(not guilty) they obviously don't have to register.

 

[brodski]

It says "not resulting in an acquittal". Meaning if there is a trial and then an acquittal(not guilty) they obviously don't have to register.

What outcome can a US crimal trial have other than a finding of guilty or not guilty? I thought only the Scots had not proven as a verdict?

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

What outcome can a US crimal trial have other than a finding of guilty or not guilty? I thought only the Scots had not proven as a verdict?

Not guilty means acquittal. It says you must register if you are NOT acquitted.

A finding not resulting in an acquittal at a hearing for the alleged commission or attempted commission of the offense.

"not resulting in an acquittal" means you weren't found not guilty.

 

[ChristineR]

Since most child sex assault cases do not result in a trial, I would assume that this includes offenders who plead guilty and offenders whose charges were dropped as well.

In other words, charged but not convicted.

 

[Dustin Kesselberg]

Since most child sex assault cases do not result in a trial, I would assume that this includes offenders who plead guilty and offenders whose charges were dropped as well.

In other words, charged but not convicted.

No. There are only 3 ways they can be listed as "sex offenders" and conviction with a guilty plea is one of them. If their charges are dropped they obviously they wouldn't be listed. That wouldn't make sense.

 

[ChristineR]

A finding not resulting in an acquittal is not the same as a finding of guilty. It could be dropping the charges.

A guilty plea would also be "a finding not resulting in an acquittal."

 

[The Atheist]

Your first article doesn't have citations at the end and I didn't want to wade through the 5 pages to find something identifying where their facts came from.

No idea, but that's a highly reputable magazine it came from, so I'd tend towards believing it - probably the best and most accurate magazine reporting in this country.

Without the original research, you don't know how many people they looked at, how they identified child-sex-offender...

That's easy, the program is only run in jail, so they were all convicted child-sex criminals who volunteered for the course.

...and most importantly, how long out they looked for re-offenses...

2 years

...and if people were re-arrested in another state would it have shown up in the records?

No states here, all one jurisdiction.

You can't draw valid conclusions 3rd hand.

Which is what I said.

Can you find the source of their "facts"?

Nope, haven't tried.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

One thing that has always bugged me about statutory rape and pedophilia are the cases when the offender is 18 and the "victim" is maybe 15 or so. Do these people get the same treatment (registering as sex offenders, etc.)?

I realize that there needs to be a line drawn, but I think it should be pre- and post- puberty (or at least ages that are meant to reflect that).

Anyone know if the numbers cited do anything to separate out these sorts of things, are is there just one big category of "sex offenders"?

BTW, I can't imagine why the sickoes involved in some of that business at Abu Graib aren't considered sex offenders.

 

[luchog]

...and most importantly, how long out they looked for re-offenses...

2 years

That doesn't sound nearly long enough.

The problem with investigating recidivism and other behaviour patterns for child molesters/paedophiles is that they are very secretive and cowardly; in contrast to, for example, violent criminals like serial rapists who target adults. They are highly unlikely to re-offend if they believe that they are being observed, or otherwise risk discovery. They also frequently tend to be very patient and manipulative people, with the ability to "groom" a potential victim for many months before actually committing any overtly abusive acts, as well as convincing or frightening the victim in to keeping quiet about the abuse.

It's a widely accepted both in the law enforcement and medical community that child sexual abuse is one of the most underreported crimes, by a huge margin.

Because of what I've learned of paedophiles, both from medical literature and the personal experiences of too many friends and aquaintances, I'm highly skeptical of such a low rate of recidivism. I don't have any hard data, but I firmly believe that the actual rate is much higher; and that the artificially low rate provided by these studies is the result of constant real or perceived observation, and paedophiles becoming increasingly evasive and more effective at hiding their actions.

However, I am willing to accept that sex-offender registration, monitoring, and counselling programs have managed to reduce recidivism to a measurable extent for those very same reasons. As Bikewer mentioned, paraphilias can't really be "cured" by any known medical treatment; but the right kind of counseling can help to prevent people from acting on their urges.