“Mixed” Sexual Offending Against Both Children and Adults: An Empirical Comparison With Individuals Who Exclusively Offended Against Child or Adult Victims

Abstract

Individuals who sexually offended against both children and adults might be particularly dangerous. However, studies on this group are rare due to methodological difficulties. We investigated adverse childhood experiences, criminological variables, and other characteristics as well as recidivism in individuals who sexually offended against mixed-aged victims (ISOMAVs) compared to individuals who exclusively offended against adults (ISOAs) or children (ISOCs). Compared to previous studies, we applied more stringent classification criteria by including only individuals with at least two past sexual offenses. Analyses revealed that ISOMAVs more often had an extensive history of sexual offending. In addition, they were more likely than ISOAs to assault males, and more likely than ISOCs to assault strangers. Violent reoffending was more common in ISOMAVs compared to ISOCs, but ISOMAVs showed no more sexual recidivism. Other findings, limitations, and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Self-harm and suicidality among three subgroups of male sex offenders: results from an Australian prisoner cohort

“…The sample sizes ranged from ChildSOs: 31-77 (final model Cox & Snell R 2 = .209, Nagelkerke R 2 = .415) and AdultSOs: 69-160 (final model Cox & Snell R 2 = .246, Nagelkerke R 2 = .469) a Data from 1996 and 2001 surveys and AdultSOs (Stinson & Gonsalves, 2014), this may reflect the small sample size of this group (n = 43) in the current study. Relative to the other sex offender subgroups, PolySOs appear to have different: demographic histories (Gullotta et al, 2020;Link & Lösel, 2021); personality patterns (e.g., Jackson & Richards, 2007); developmental perturbations (Lussier & Cale, 2013); and/or a generalised use of violence towards oneself and others.…”

Investigating the Effect of Post-Release Housing Mobility on Recidivism: Considering Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses

“…Finally, individuals with a sexual offense conviction with an adult victim more likely to return to prison on a technical violation when compared to individuals with non-sexual offenses, a theme that has emerged in other works of this type (Lin et al, 2010). Research often highlights the unique trajectories and criminogenic needs among individuals who commit sex offenses against children (Link & Lösel, 2021), but this model did not differentiate the two groups. The lack of substantive differences in the effect of mobility on technical returns may be a function of these aforementioned supervision dynamics.…”