The Truth You Don't Know About Sex Offenders

May 13, 2008

Despite reform efforts by victim's rights organizations and the enactment of new laws and procedures by the House and the Senate, sex crimes continue to rise in the U.S. In recent years, the introduction of the sex offender registry has proven helpful in locating and monitoring sex offenders; however, statistics show it has done little to avert future crimes and prevent convicted offenders from re-offending.

It is time for lawmakers in the United States to re-evaluate the sentencing guidelines for convicted sex offenders. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the average sentence for a convicted rapist is 7.4 years. Other studies suggest that number is somewhat higher, at 11.8 years. Regardless of the actual number, most of the offenders, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, serve as little as 5.4 years of the original sentence before being paroled back into society.

A Bureau of Justice Statistics report, released in 2002, shows that violent offenders accounted for 50 percent of all state prisoners. Among that percentage, 142,000 of those inmates were serving time for rape and other sexual assaults. Fast-forward to 2003, (the most recent statistics available) and that number increases to 148,800. According to the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM), the number of imprisoned sex offenders grows by more than 7 percent every year. Some say it is a minimal increase -- a mere 6,800 inmates in the most recent study. However, I think the victims of those 6,800 offenders would strongly disagree.

The recidivism rates of sex offenders remain unclear. Many studies have been conducted over the years; however, none of these studies seem to arrive at the same number. According to CSOM's Web site, "studies on sex offender recidivism vary widely in the quality and rigor of the research design, the sample of sex offenders and behaviors included in the study, the length of follow-up, and the criteria for success or failure. Due to these and other differences, there is often a perceived lack of consistency across studies of sex offender recidivism."

In 1990, W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, and H. E. Barbaree released their studies in the Handbook of Sexual Assault. They found that the recidivism rate for specific types of offenders varied. According to their research, incest offenders ranged between 4 and 10 percent, rapists between 7 and 35 percent, child molesters with female victims between 10 and 29 percent, child molesters with male victims between 13 and 40 percent, and exhibitionists between 41 and 71 percent.

In a follow-up study conducted that same year by M. E. Rice, G. T. Harris, and V. L. Quinsey, which was published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, the researchers looked at 54 rapists who had been released from prison. Of those 54 convicts, 28 percent were reconvicted of a sex offense and 43 percent went on to be convicted of a violent offense.

Continue Reading The Truth You Don't Know About Sex Offenders

Comments

[ZMan!]

I believe the recidivism is low, and one reason there is many differences, is most studies I've seen, take into account any additional crime being committed, not just another sex crime.

It is my belief, that is they only looked at sex crimes, the recidivism would be very low.

I have many studies on my blog about this, here:

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/search/label/%2BRecidivism
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/search/label/%2BFactsAndMyths

And on my Wiki site here:

http://sexoffenderissues.pbwiki.com/#Recidivism

[David Lohr]

Hello ZMan,

Thank you for your comments and the links, however I was unable to find anything to convince me that recidivism is low. The studies you cite on your blog are as problematic as any of the other studies.

Nonetheless, the point of my article was that sex crimes continue to be on the rise and that current sentencing guidelines need to be reevaluated, as the criminals are receiving a slap on the wrist for a crime that literally destroys people's lives.

Regards,

David Lohr

[Jill Kohn]

You are cherry picking your statistics. The D.O.J. stastics are comprehensive. Some of the other stats you site are from organizations who have a vested interest in inciting the fear factor. By not citing the D.O.J. recidivism stats you clearly are not showing the true facts and allowing the reader to rationalize this information. Quite a few studies are made by organizations who recieve Government grants and other monies and it is in their interest to keep up the "the sky is falling" cry of false fear.

[David Lohr]

Hello Jill,

I am not "cherry picking" anything. I presented several links to various static's, including the D.O.J. statistics you mention.

My opinion is that the D.O.J. statistics are not "comprehensive" at all. Three years is not enough time to conduct a reliable study, especially when you are dealing with these types of offenders.

Regards,

David Lohr

[Benoliwal]

Zman is correct. The DOJ studies (plural) are comprehensive and non-biased, more than can be said about so called studies performed by organizations with a vested interest in the sex offender scare.

The low recidivism rate of people labeled as sex offender in general is very low. Some types of people who also wear the label of sex offender do have a high sex offense recidivism rate, and these are generally the habitual, person's who have shown they cannot control themselves.

There are other reputable studies, and even the acceptance of many who make the news, the lowly reporter that also recognizes the low recidivism rate.

Why do people labeled as sex offender have a very low recidivism rate? It simply because not everyone forced to wear that label have molested not even one child, or raped not even one adult, something you seem to not want your readers to understand either.

Why are other people having no molestation history labeled as sex offender? It goes back to Megan's law when it was signed and mandated to the states just like the AWA. Soon Washington legislators found that there were not enough violent sexual predators to justify the cost of Megan's law, so an amendment was made that required all states to add more offenses under the banner of sex offender, and again states were threatened with the 10% reduction in Byrne Funds.

All in all recidivism is very low because not all are repeat sex offenders, and many have no molestation or rape in their backgrounds, criminal or civil. Make these facts known to your readership, or are you just feeding into vigilantism a probable goal or motive.

[David Lohr]

I respect your opinion, but I still disagree that the DOJ statistics are "comprehensive."

Nonetheless, as I have already stated, I am more concerned with the fact that sex crimes are on the rise, then I am with the recidivism rate.