Understanding preadolescent sexual offenders: can these children be rehabilitated to stem the tide of adult predatory behaviors?

Despite society's emphasis on adult offenders, sexual offenses by children have not received the same attention. Adolescent sexual offenders were only truly recognized in the early 1980s, with preadolescents not seriously tracked until the mid to late 1980s. Even today, research regarding these youngest of offenders remains in its early stages. Florida has attempted to deal with these offenders through the juvenile justice system and specifically through the provisions of F.S. [section] 985.308. It is important to note the distinction between the adult and juvenile criminal justice systems. Both systems seek to protect society from those who would commit offenses. However, while punishment of offenders is the primary purpose of criminal sentencing, the juvenile system seeks to balance the need for community safety against the needs and rehabilitation of the delinquent child. (1)

With the large number of juveniles, particularly children under 12, committing sexual offenses, examining the reasons for their sexualized behavior as well as the options available for effective resolution of these cases is necessary. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, and institutions are frequently at odds over conflicting theories of punishment, defending the child, and doing what is best for the child, in addition to issues of funding and availability.

Prevalence and Statistical Overview

Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in the U.S., and reports of juvenile aggression and sexual abuse have increased over the years. (2) A 1983 study found that the rate of sexual assault per 100,000 adolescent males ranged from 5,000 to 16,000. From 1983 to 1992, reports of adolescents involved in some type of serious violent offense increased eight to 10 percent, with juvenile arrests for forcible rape increasing 20 percent. (3) In 2001, 4,600 juveniles were arrested for forcible rape and 18,000 for other sexual offenses, not including prostitution. This represented 17 and 20 percent of all arrests for forcible rape and other sex offenses, respectively. (4) In 1996, 5,600 juveniles were arrested for forcible rape and 17,200 for other offenses--17 and 18 percent respectively. (5) The impact of juvenile sexual offenders on future community safety is underscored by the fact that, as of 1999, the majority of adult sexual offenders studied reported a history of sexual offenses before the age of 18. (6)

However, it was not until the mid to late 1980s that preadolescent sexual offenders--children 12 and under who abuse other children or those they deem vulnerable--became a concern. Prior to 1985, the identification and reporting of child sexual offending was nearly nonexistent. (7) United States case reports do show however, that 208 children under 12 were arrested for rape in 1980, 18 percent of which were 10 years of age or younger. By 1988, the National Center for Juvenile Justice was reporting a forcible rape rate of .02 cases per 1,000 in children aged 10 and 11. (8)

It is possible that the rising numbers are more a function of increased attention than increased offending. One problem in the recognition of these offenders may have been the natural reluctance of adults to view children as sexual beings, instead assuming they are in a period of sexual latency. This was compounded by the reluctance of providers to make treatment services available to children so young. Additionally, the body of research is only now starting to grow. (9) Sociological and psychological research conducted in academic and clinical settings, coupled with tracking and analysis by agencies, such as the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, are allowing better understanding of these offenders.

Offender Backgrounds

A number of elements in the preadolescent sexual offender's background may lead to deficits in development of appropriate social skills. Children who sexually offend often have a history of family problems. Histories of broken families, domestic abuse, substance abuse, multigenerational abuse, and parental histories of abuse were characteristic of the homes in which most of these children reside. (10) High rates of poverty, witnessing of domestic violence by children, physical abuse, and denial of responsibility by members of the family were also noted. (11) Children classified as "sexually aggressive" were exposed to physical violence, sexualized adult behavior, and sexual abuse involving intercourse at percentages far exceeding those reported in large samples of sexually abused children. (12) A study comparing adolescent offenders to preadolescents found that younger offenders, more so than their older counterparts, have significant family histories of violence, lack of positive anger management, blurred privacy boundaries, family abuse, and parents unable to cope with the alleged abuse by the child. (13)

A common finding across studies was that these children were nearly always victims of abuse and their abusive behaviors would often parallel their own victimization. The most prevalent form of abuse was sexual abuse, which was present in 92 percent to 95 percent of preadolescents. A history of sexual abuse was found in 50 to 75 percent of male offenders and 100 percent of female offenders. (14) Family members, usually fathers, often molested these children. (15) Sexually aggressive children also often experienced more severe types of abuse that usually involved genital contact and intercourse.

These children often also present emotional and mental health concerns. Diagnoses of conduct disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder were most common. Less common were oppositional defiant disorder and adjustment disorder. Children were often dually or multiply diagnosed with combinations of these illnesses. (16) They were also found to have very poor social skills, problem solving, tolerance, and coping skills. They had nearly no positive relationships. In turn, these problems with school and peer interactions likely reflect their turbulent lives at home. (17)

Preadolescent sexual offenders also showed problems in the educational setting. Many were found to have average to lower IQs, approximately half of which were in the low-average to borderline range, which frequency was twice as high as that found in a normally distributed sample. Furthermore, all of the school-aged children had problems in school. Most were in learning disabled or special education programs. (18)

Classification of Offenders

Juvenile offenders differ according to their offending behavior and victims. (19) While there is no empirical evidence that any profile is necessarily, applicable to juvenile sex offenders, research points to common traits among preadolescent sexual offenders. Those findings allow some awareness of common behaviors, victim choice, and typology of these offenders.

One of the main issues in dealing with preadolescent sexual offenders is to distinguish accurately between mere sexual exploration and abusive behaviors. Sexual play by developing children--"playing doctor"--is normal and not a cause for concern. A majority of children play in such ways before the age of 13. Most sexual play tends to occur between children who are classmates or schoolmates. Play becomes sexually abusive behavior when there is coercion and an absence of mutual consent. (20)

Abusive behaviors are usually associated with themes of secrecy, dominance, threat, and force. (21) Preadolescent sexual offenders are defined by one set of researchers as children "age nine through 12, who display sexually inappropriate behavior toward another which is harmful or unlawful." These children are many times reacting to sexual victimization and/or exposure to sexual stimuli. (22) Developing children learn about sexuality, sexual values, and roles from the household as well as exposure to society and culture. The presence of conflict and aggression within sexualized homes serves as the template for linking aggressive behavior with sex. (23)

The average age of victims was between five and seven years of age. The preadolescent sexual offender often has one to 15 victims by the time he or she is discovered, averaging about four victims. These victims are children targeted both inside and outside of the home. In one study, nearly a third of the offenders targeted the younger female relative in the home. (24) The age difference between offenders and their victims was about four to five years. Preadolescent sexual offenders are opportunistic, choosing their victims by availability or vulnerability, and ease of manipulation into silence by force, threat, or bribe. (25) Preadolescent sexual offenders are younger than most, as are their victims. As a result, the victim is unlikely to have the cognitive or verbal skills necessary to bring these behaviors to someone's attention. Coupled with the opportunistic nature of the offenders, these behaviors become harder to detect than those of older perpetrators. (26)

Two attempts have been made at achieving some sort of classification system. One attempt was based on descriptions of children observed in a clinical setting. Four categories were established: a) normal sexual exploration, b) sexually reactive, c) extensive mutual sexual behaviors, and d) child perpetrators. The extensive mutual behaviors group is not truly relevant to this discussion as it involves mutual activity. There is a significant difference between the other two abnormal classifications. Sexually reactive children acted in ways reflective of having been abused, exposed to pornography, or living in highly sexualized households. The emotions associated with their behavior may reflect confusion and shame. Child perpetrators engaged in nonmutual impulsive, compulsive, and aggressive sexual behaviors. These children often associate feelings of anger, aggression, fear, loneliness, and/or abandonment with sex. A history of abuse, distress, or victimization is common to both of these classifications. (27)

A later attempt was the first to develop an empirically derived and clinically relevant classification system. Five groups were identified. Sexually aggressive children had the highest rates of conduct disorder diagnoses and were more likely to penetrate. They were abuse victims less often than the other groups. Nonsymptomatic children typically had no psychiatric diagnosis, and had low levels of aggression as well as the fewest victims. They were the most likely to have abusers in their extended family. Highly traumatized/abuse reactive children were the youngest and had the highest number of victims. Abuse reactive offenders had the shortest time between their abuse and the onset of abuse against others. They also had a high incidence of psychiatric diagnoses. Rule breakers had the highest number of female offenders and the greatest time lag between their own abuse and the abuse of others. Children in this group demonstrated higher levels of sexualized and aggressive behaviors and were also more likely to act out in nonsexual ways. These children also had the highest number of sexual abusers in their families. Across the five types, children who had been abused by more individuals and those who had impaired attachments with their parents had the greatest number of victims. (28)

Recidivism

Despite alarming statistics, research appears to show that juvenile sex offenders are not as likely to sexually reoffend as one might think. Sexual recidivism rates range from 7.7 percent to 14.3 percent. (29) Further research indicates some variables associated with recidivism including use of verbal threats, penetration, lack of empathy, family normalness, prior history, and deviant sexual arousal patterns as well as minimal consequences for offenses. However, researchers have disagreed on the significance of the different factors. It has also been observed that treatment providers may overpredict sexual recidivism rather than risk consequences associated with failure to predict recidivism that comes to pass.

The low reoffense rates may be due to the fact that, by their very nature, these events often go undetected, and new sexual offenses can be hard to predict due to their infrequent nature. Another theory is that these children do not go on to reoffend sexually because they are supervised more closely and have less of an opportunity to engage in such behaviors. Finally, low rates of sexual reoffending may be due to "lasting changes in the offenders and/or his family as a result of being identified, evaluated, treated, adjudicated, and/or sentenced." (30) Given relatively high rates of recidivism for nonsexual delinquent acts, one must question the hypothesis that the children have less of an opportunity to offend based on greater supervision. The most productive theory is to focus on the value of proper intervention to create those "lasting changes" in order to protect other children from future sexual assaults.

Assessment and Treatment

Regardless of what punishment components are included in disposition, treatment and rehabilitation should receive great emphasis, given research indicating low recidivism rates for offenders who are identified, treated, and followed. Such an approach best achieves the balance of interests sought by the juvenile system as it helps minimize the number of future victims of juvenile sex offenders as well as help prevent these children from becoming adult sexual offenders or predators.

Though a large number of adult offenders were once juvenile offenders, research shows that juvenile sexual offenders who have been successfully rehabilitated generally do not go on to sexually offend as adults. (31) Due to the young age of preadolescent sexual offenders, greater success may be found at treating and ending their behavior than with adolescent and adult offenders. This is due in large part to the fact that they have had a shorter time frame in which they could develop these behaviors and have them reinforced. (32) As such, intervention through assessment and treatment of sexually aggressive behaviors is vital to both protect the community and achieve the rehabilitation goal of the juvenile justice system.

A comprehensive assessment of individual children, including psychological, social, cognitive, and mental needs, is necessary to facilitate treatment. Given the relationship between the child's environment and other factors, family relationships, risk factors (including substance abuse), and risk management possibilities must be addressed. (33)

The child charged with a sexual offense will likely be evaluated at the opening stages of the case. This evaluation may occur at the request of the Department of Juvenile Justice or one of the parties. When the offender is forthright at this stage of the case, information received will help greatly at the disposition phase. Older offenders may sometimes evade questions and withhold information in an attempt to avoid responsibility or at the instructions of their attorney in order to steer clear of self-incrimination, thus hindering the evaluation process. Even if such a screening is not conducted at the earlier stages, one will be conducted as part of the staffing, evaluation, and disposition process at which time the offender may be more forthright in answering the evaluator's questions.

Occasionally, there is some concern regarding competency to proceed as a result of the offender's young age. No one wants to have a child adjudicated as a sexual offender when he or she is incompetent to proceed, and that issue should be given due consideration with appropriate evaluations conducted. Should the child be found competent to proceed, these evaluations can still be relevant to the ongoing case. Information obtained during the preparation of competency evaluations and reports could provide insight that may not have been gleaned from a more comprehensive evaluation.

Treatment goals generally target confrontation of denial, deviant sexual arousal, victim empathy, social skills, values clarification, and clarification of cognitive distortions. (34) Though young sex offenders are never actually "cured," a significant percentage will respond favorably to therapeutic interventions. (35)

In many instances, a group treatment setting is the preferred format for treatment. In such therapy sessions, the individual is confronted by "street smart" peers who cannot be easily manipulated and who can confront the child's attempts at minimalization and denial. Individual therapy has historically been a valuable tool but is of limited value for the sexual offender, and should not be relied upon as the sole tool. In addition, the family environment must be immediately addressed since "extreme and persistent sexualized and molesting behaviors do not emerge in a vacuum." (36) Any treatment initiatives should include some sort of family therapy. Many of the offender's beliefs and thought constructs regarding sexuality, aggression, and gender have generally developed within the home setting. Family therapy gives the opportunity to understand the child better and correct those distortions. (37)

The goal of Florida's juvenile justice system to rehabilitate presents the opportunity to provide the necessary treatment alternatives as a focus of disposition. An extensive network of programs in all regions of the state for commitment of those offenders deemed to require inpatient treatment is available. Given the nature of these facilities--often high-risk commitments--the stays are often long term. In addition, when commitment does not seem appropriate, there are resources for outpatient treatment, including private placements. (38) All relevant information should be presented to case managers with the Department of Juvenile Justice during a commitment staffing as well as to the judge at the time of the disposition. The judge will be able to make the best determination as to the appropriate disposition and treatment options to be ordered when all available information on the child, his or her history, and risk factors is made available to the court. (39)

One shortfalling is the lack of resources for preadolescent sexual offenders. The majority of the commitment programs in Florida are geared toward children over the age of 12. (40) Private resources also provide a similar challenge, as many will not treat children under the age of 11. (41) Despite the fact that females are becoming recognized as a significant sexual offender population, resources for them are equally limited as most facilities are geared toward treatment of male offenders. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, the courts, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and treatment providers are challenged to recognize this youngest population of sexual offenders and meet the challenge of their rehabilitation by providing adequate facilities and options for their assessment and treatment.

Conclusion

Juveniles have been recognized as perpetrators of sexual offenses for just over two decades. Only in the past decade and a half has it been recognized and understood that preadolescent children are not necessarily in a period of sexual latency, but can be sexual offenders as well. Research on these offenders is only in its early stages; these findings should be applied as guidance while recognizing that there is more work to be done in understanding and adequately dealing with these sexually aggressive children. (42) What has been found so far is that these children have in common: problems with school, emotional and mental health problems, and, most notably, a history of abuse. Sexually aggressive behaviors often have their roots in these factors and both the offender's behaviors and his or her environment must be addressed.

A systemwide response to these offenders is vital to accomplish the goal of balancing community safety and the best interests of the child. These two interests often seem to be at odds. However, in the case of preadolescent sexual offenders, this balance is vital as one goal depends on the other. While not dismissing the significance and efficacy of a punishment component, the assessment, treatment, and successful rehabilitation of these sexually aggressive children best ensures the safety of the community.

(1) Compare the goals of FLA. R. CRIM. P. 3.701(b)(2) and FLA. STAT. ch. 985.01.

(2) Jon A. Shaw et al., Practice Parameters for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents Who are Sexually Abusive of Others, 38 J. AM. ACAD. ADOLESC. PSYCH. 55S-76S, [paragraph] 2 (1999 Dec. Supp.) <http://ipsapp003.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/2600/63/4/fulltext.htm>.

(3) Id. at [paragraph] 33-37.

(4) Howard N. Snyder, Juvenile Arrests 2001 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention), December 2003, at 3-4.

(5) Howard N. Snyder, Juvenile Arrests 1996 (Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention), November 1997, at 2-3.

(6) Shaw, supra note 2.

(7) SHARON K. ARAJI, SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE CHILDREN: COMING TO UNDERSTAND THEM xxvii (1997).

(8) Id. at xxii.

(9) Id. at 34.

(10) Id. at 55.

(11) Id. at 79.

(12) Id. at 59.

(13) Id. at 65.

(14) Id. at 62-76.

(15) Id. at 54-55.

(16) Id. at 77.

(17) Id. at 55.

(18) Id. at 55-59.

(19) Sue Righthand and Carlann Welch, Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: a Review of the Professional Literature (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention), March 2001, at 3.

(20) Shaw, supra note 2, at [paragraph] 30.

(21) Id. at [paragraph] 55.

(22) Araji, supra note 7, at 30.

(23) Id. at 85.

(24) Id. at 64.

(25) Id. at 47-55.

(26) Id. at 67.

(27) Righthand and Welch, supra note 19, at 23.

(28) Id.

(29) Id. at 13. It should be noted that a 1998 study found a relatively high sexual recidivism rate of 37 percent. Despite other strengths, the study is considered weak based on its relatively small sample size.

(30) Shaw, supra note 2, at [paragraph] 32-35.

(31) We are cautioned that no true experimental studies with empirical validation have been attempted comparing untreated and treated sex offenders. Previous experiments have focused on clinical observations and follow-up of identified and treated sex offenders.

(32) Araji, supra note 7, at 195.

(33) Id. at 27.

(34) Shaw, supra note 2, at [paragraph] 4.

(35) Id. at [paragraph] 21, 23.

(36) Araji, supra note 7, at 89.

(37) Id. at 23-26.

(38) Private outpatient resources for young sexual offenders include the Chrysalis Center in Ft. Lauderdale, University Behavioral Center in Orlando, Winter Haven Hospital in Winter Haven, and Jacksonville Youth Center in Jacksonville. This is by no means an exhaustive list of treatment centers but gives an idea of available resources and may help the reader in finding additional resources.

(39) For more on the value of information presented to a judge at disposition, see Thomas Oakland and Claudia Wright, The Value of High Quality, Comprehensive Information to Decisionmakers in Juvenile Cases, 77 FLA. B.J. 55-60 (Nov. 2003).

(40) The Department of Juvenile Justice has begun to meet this need by opening a new facility in the Tampa area which accepts children 10 to 17 years of age.

(41) There are some exceptions. University Behavioral Center will accept children as young as seven while Chrysalis Center accepts children as young as three.

(42) Araji, supra note 7, at xxvii, xxxii, and 217.

Jose I. Concepcion is an assistant state attorney with the Office of the State Attorney, 10th Circuit, where he serves as juvenile division supervisor and handles misdemeanor appeals and juvenile direct files in Highlands County. He has also served as an assistant public defender responsible for defense of eligible juveniles prosecuted in Highlands County. Mr. Concepcion received his B.A. in history from the University of Miami in 1996 and his J.D. front the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in 1999.