This article will present data gathered by the authors through structured clinical interviews of 561 paraphiliacs regarding demographic characteristics, frequency and variety of deviant sexual acts, and number and characteristics of victims. Results show that nonincarcerated sex offenders (1) are well educated and socioeconomically diverse; (2) report an average number of crimes and victims that is substantially higher than that represented in the current literature; and (3) sexually molest young boys with an incidence that is five times greater than the molestation of young girls. The relevance of these findings is discussed.

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With the recent realization of the extent to which adolescents are committing sexual offenses, researchers have attempted to identify valid and reliable assessment instruments for this population. Some such assessment instruments (i.e., plethysmography, self-report) have met with criticism relative to their utility with juvenile offenders. The present study aimed to assess the validity of the Abel Assessment for sexual interest (AASI) with male adolescents who have molested children. Results indicated that the amount of time male adolescent child molesters viewed slides of children was significantly longer than nonmolesters. Additionally, viewing time of slides of children for male adolescent child molesters was significantly correlated with their number of victims and the number of times they carried out acts of child molestation. These results support the AASI as a valid measure of sexual interest in adolescent male child molesters.

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Penile plethysmography (PPG) is considered the most rigorous method for sexual interest assessment. Nevertheless, it is subject to faking attempts by participants, which compromises the internal validity of the instrument. To date, various attempts have been made to limit voluntary control of sexual response during PPG assessments, without satisfactory results. This exploratory research examined eye-tracking technologies' ability to identify the presence of cognitive strategies responsible for erectile inhibition during PPG assessment. Eye movements and penile responses for 20 subjects were recorded while exploring animated human-like computer-generated stimuli in a virtual environment under three distinct viewing conditions: (a) the free visual exploration of a preferred sexual stimulus without erectile inhibition; (b) the viewing of a preferred sexual stimulus with erectile inhibition; and (c) the free visual exploration of a non-preferred sexual stimulus. Results suggest that attempts to control erectile responses generate specific eye-movement variations, characterized by a general deceleration of the exploration process and limited exploration of the erogenous zone. Findings indicate that recording eye movements can provide significant information on the presence of competing covert processes responsible for erectile inhibition. The use of eye-tracking technologies during PPG could therefore lead to improved internal validity of the plethysmographic procedure.

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