Managing Sex Offenders
in the Community:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Highest Priorities of Sex
Offender Management:
PUBLIC SAFETY
VICTIM PROTECTION
Sexual Assault is a
Human Rights Issue:
protection from victimization
considered a basic right of victims
Sexual Assault is a Public
Health Problem
We need to stop viewing sex offending as
a problem that can be ameliorated by
law, psychology, or medicine. Rather
we should view it as a public health
problem that is everybody’s business
and everybody’s responsibility.
Laws (1998)
Sexual abuse against persons of all ages
represents a serious national problem
that cannot be solved solely through the
criminal justice system. The public
health approach, which focuses on
prevention before an act occurs, offers
a framework that complements the
criminal justice approach.
Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers
(ATSA)
Myths and Realities
About Sex Offenders And
Their Victims
Myth
Most sexual assaults are
committed by strangers.
90% of child victims know their
offender, with almost half being
a family member.
76% of adult women were raped by
a current or former husband, live-
in-partner, or date.
1998 National Violence Against Women
Survey
Myth
Most child sexual abusers use
physical force or threat to gain
compliance from their victims.
In most cases, abusers gain
access through grooming,
deception and enticement.
Myth
Most child sexual abusers find
their victims by frequenting
such places as schoolyards
and playgrounds.
Most abusers offend against
children they know and have
established a relationship.
Myth
Risk rarely changes in an
offender with intellectual
disability.
Risk can change frequently
depending on an offenders
mental health, living
situation, supervision level,
and mood.
Myth
Child sexual abusers are only
attracted to children and are
not capable of appropriate
sexual relationships.
There is a small subset who
are exclusively attracted to
children, but the majority
are or have previously been
attracted to adults.
Myth
If someone sexually assaults
an adult, he will not target
children as victims; and if
someone sexually assaults a
child, he will not target adults.
Most sex offenders prey on
different types of victims. No
assumptions can be made
about an offender’s victim
preference.
CROSSOVER
There are no pure categories within
sexual offending categories alone.
Colorado study:
25.7% assaulted both genders
50% crossed over juvenile/adult
Myth
Drugs and alcohol cause
sexual offenses to occur.
Drugs and alcohol are often
involved in an assault, but do
not cause offenders to
commit the assault. They
serve as disinhibitors.
Myth
The majority of sex offenders
are caught, convicted, and in
prison.
1990 National Crime
Victimization Survey:
32% of sexual assaults reported
2003 National Crime
Victimization Survey:
39% reported
Myth
Sexual offense rates are higher
than ever and continue to
climb.
2003 National Crime Victimization
Survey
Rapes and Sexual Assaults
1993 2003
485,000 223,000
Number of Substantiated Child
Sexual Abuse Cases
1992 2003
150,000 90,000
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention
Myth
Sex offending is rare in offenders with
intellectual disability.
There are more sex offenders and
inappropriate sexual behaviors with
this population than with the
general prison population.
Myth
Risk in sexual offenders with
intellectual disability is low since sex
offender recidivism is low.
Due to impulsivity, attention
deficit, and criminal personality
risk can be high in many life areas.
Myth
There are few Paraphilias (sexual
deviance) in offenders with
intellectual disability.
Paraphilias in this population
bunch together and usually
throughout treatment more are
discovered.
Myth
Children who are sexually assaulted
will sexually assault others when they
grow up.
Most sex offenders were not
sexually abused as children and
most who are assaulted do not
sexually assault others.
Myth
Sex Offender recidivism
rates are very high.
5 years 10 15
years years
All sex offenders 14% 20% 24%
Rapists 14% 21% 24%
“Girl Victim” Child 9% 13% 16%
Molesters
“Boy Victim” Child Molesters 23% 28% 35%
Over 50 years old at release 7% 11% 12%
Under 50 years old at release 15% 21% 26%
Harris and Hanson (2004)
Myth
As providers we should only be
concerned with sexual behaviors that
are criminal.
There are many fringe
behaviors in this population
which pose serious threats:
aggression, theft, nuisance
behaviors, fire setting, etc.
Myth
There are no effective ways to assess
risk with offenders who have
intellectual disabilities.
Risk assessments can be
very effective in identifying
areas to manage.
Myth
With a good assessment we can
predict who will commit a sexual
crime.
No assessment can predict
sexual offenses, only manage
risk.
Myth
Treatment is not effective with
offenders who have intellectual
disability.
Cognitive/behavioral
approaches and Relapse
Prevention can be very
effective with this population.
Myth
Supervision of sexual offenders is only
concerned about policing them and
not letting them out of your sight.
Supervision is concerned
with teaching the offender to
be responsible and proactive
at staying out of tempting
situations and engaging in
safe situations.
WHO ARE SEX
OFFENDERS?
All sex offenders are not alike.
There is no “profile” of a sex
offender.
Sex offenders vary
significantly in age and
come from all races,
ethnicities and
socioeconomic classes.
There are different types
of sex offenders
and different levels of
risk.
FBI TYPOLOGIES OF
CHILD MOLESTERS
AND RAPISTS
SITUATIONAL CHILD
MOLESTERS
• Regressed
• Morally Indiscriminate
• Inadequate
PREFERENTIAL CHILD
MOLESTERS
• Seduction
• Introverted
• Sadistic
• Diverse
RAPISTS
• Anger
• Power
• Sadistic
NON-CONTACT SEX
OFFENSES
• Exhibitionism
• Voyeurism
• Obscene phone calls
• Frotteurism
SEX OFFENDER RISK
ASSESSMENT
Empirically-based, scientifically validated
tools, designed to predict the risk to
reoffend.
These tools guide practitioners in identifying
sub-groups of offenders who pose a higher
risk to reoffend than others.
RISK FACTORS
• Prior sex offenses
• Diverse sex crimes
• Deviant sexual interest
• Sexual preoccupation
• Antisocial orientation/psychopathy
• Victim characteristics (male, stranger, unrelated)
• History of rule violations (non-compliance with supervision,
violation of conditional release)
• Attitudes tolerant of sex crimes
• Emotional identification with children
• Conflicts with intimate partners or lack of intimate partner
• Psychopathy and deviance combined
MANAGING SEX
OFFENDERS IN THE
COMMUNITY
Why do we need to talk about
supervising sex offenders in
the community?
• Most end up released into the community.
• Many are not under correctional
supervision.
• Communities can help sex offenders
reintegrate and thus prevent future
victimization.
Sex Offender Management Is:
Preventing Sexual Assaults by Known
Offenders by:
•Developing and supporting offenders’
internal controls; and
•Establishing external controls over activities.
A Victim-Centered
Approach:
• Values public safety, victim protection, and
reparation.
• Assists victims and controls offenders.
• Commitment by and coordination of key
professionals.
• Increases the likelihood that victims will report
and receive assistance.
A Victim-Centered
Approach:
In a victim-centered approach to the
management and treatment of sex offenders,
victims and the community are considered the
primary clients.
Victim Advocates can ensure that
the interests of current and
potential future victims remain at
the forefront for those working to
manage sex offenders in the
community.
Premises of Sex Offender
Management
Requires multidisciplinary
collaboration
Victim safety is paramount
True collaboration can be described
as a situation in which agencies and
individuals who share a common
problem or set of interests set aside
their agendas regarding the
identified concern and come
together to forge a collective agenda
that addresses each party’s needs.
Collaboration is Essential
Because:
• Sexual abuse involves many areas
• Information and disclosure are key
• There is a common goal
Collaboration and the
Public Health Model
In the public health universe problems are defined
widely and their solutions are seen as resulting from the
collaboration of diverse specialists. I have, no doubt, for
example, that reducing violence requires the creative
collaboration of the criminal justice, health, mental
health, social services, and education establishments. I
am not talking about a few top bosses holding summit
meetings. I am talking about the troops, the mass of
cops, probation officers, doctors, nurses, therapists,
counselors, social workers, and truant officers working
together every single day.
Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D.
Who are the stakeholders?
• Criminal justice system personnel such as judges,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, and law enforcement
officers
• Correctional officials responsible for the reentry of
sex offenders into the community as well as those
supervision officers who monitor offenders in the
community
• Victim advocates and victim treatment providers
• Sex offender treatment providers
• Anyone who has a stake in preventing sexual abuse:
polygraph examiners, social service providers, child
protective agencies and school administrators.
Specialized Sex Offender
Supervision includes:
• A primary focus on the prevention of future victimization.
• Close collaboration and frequent information sharing among
supervision agents, victim advocates, law enforcement and other
practitioners who share responsibility for sex offender
management.
• Specialized training for agents who work with sex offenders.
• Special conditions of supervision designed to address risk factors.
• Sex offender specific caseloads for agents supervising sex
offenders.
How can citizens help support the management of
sex offenders in their communities?
• Don’t assume preventing sexual assault is someone
else’s responsibility.
• Accept that sex offenders will and do live in
communities.
• Understand that safely supervising sex offenders is
complex.
• Assist criminal justice agencies in monitoring an
offender’s behavior and actions.
• Use available channels for expressing concerns. If
there are concerns about a particular sex offender,
notify the supervising official immediately.
• Encourage community members to educate themselves
so that they understand who is at risk and how best
they can be protected.
• Get involved in primary prevention, i.e., educational
efforts that seek to stop the behaviors and attitudes
that allow sexual assault to occur.
• Listen to your children. Listen to their questions,
fears, and concerns.
• Talk to your children about personal safety issues as
they relate to child sexual abuse. Do this when talking
about bike safety, crossing the street, or talking to
strangers.