STOCKTON (California): US courts have seen the number of sex offence cases involving juvenile offenders rise dramatically in recent years, an Associated Press review of national statistics found, and treatment professionals say the offenders are getting younger and the crimes more violent.
Some psychologists blame the increase – 40 per cent over two decades – on a society saturated with sex and violence and the fact that many of the accused were themselves victims of adult sexual predators. Others say there are not more children committing such crimes, there is simply more awareness, better reporting and a general hysteria about sex offenders.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to suggest we have whole schools full of sexual predators ... but we’re seeing more of it and more sexually aggressive acts,” said Scott Poland, past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. “How do these kids even know about this? It’s permeated throughout our society.”
Robert Prentky, a psychologist and nationally renowned expert on sex offenders, thinks the statistics are misleading.
“There aren’t more kids, there are more laws,” he said. “We now have fairly draconian laws with very harsh sanctions that apply to juveniles.”
The number of children under 18 accused of forcible rape, violent and non-violent sex offences has steadily risen, from 24,100 children in 1985 to 33,800 in 2004, the analysis found. Violent offences include attempted rape and sexual assault, while non-violent offences including fondling, statutory rape and prostitution.
By comparison, between 1993 and 2004, rape and sexual assaults by adults decreased more than 56 per cent. (Identical statistics were unavailable before 1993).
Studies show that one in two sex offenders began their sexually abusive behaviour as a juvenile.
In reaching its findings, the analyzed state and federal crime statistics, as well as independent research on juvenile sex offenders. The sources included the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a non-profit that specialises in statistical and policy research; and The Safer Society Foundation, Inc., a non-profit that works to prevent sexual abuse.
Sharon Araji, a psychologist who took one of the first broad looks at the problem in her book, “Sexually Aggressive Children,” thinks the number of child-on-child sex crimes is actually even higher than the statistics indicate.
Only 28 per cent of all violent sexual assaults are reported to police, according to a 1999 National Crime Victimization Survey. And cases of incest between siblings are widely thought to be underreported and may drive the numbers even higher, Araji says.
“The whole society is not yet up on this problem,” Araji said. “These kids, on the extreme end, if nothing is done to catch them, they’re going to become our adult offenders of tomorrow.”
A 2001 report by the US Department of Justice said “the scope of the problem may be underestimated because juvenile sex offenders who become known to the system may represent only a small proportion of juveniles who have committed such offences.”
The rise in juvenile sex offenders has spawned hundreds of new treatment facilities for children as young as five.
In 2002, there were 937 programmes in the US treating adolescent offenders – generally ages 12-17 – up from 346 in 1986.
Over the same period, the list of programs specifically aimed at children under 12 grew from zero to 410, according to The Safer Society Foundation.—AP
