Where do sex crimes occur? How an examination of sex offense location can inform policy and prevention

Abstract

Although ample evidence demonstrates that sex crime policies focused on "stranger danger" types of offenses that occur in public places do little, if anything, to reduce sex crime, we have much less data with which to inform primary prevention strategies. Using archival data collected from the files of 1468 sex offenders, this study provides empirical data on offense location and how it varies by victim-offender relationship. Though 4% of cases occurred in areas normally restricted by residence restrictions or child safety zone legislation, only 0.05% of the offenses were perpetrated by a stranger against a minor victim in a restricted location. By providing narrative descriptions of the types of sex crimes that occur in child-dense locations, this study provides a richer and more contextualized notion of the nature of risk in public-restricted locations. Given the infrequent occurrence of sex crimes in child-dense locations, it is argued that tertiary sex crime prevention efforts ought to focus on where sex crimes most frequently occur (i.e., in the home and by known perpetrators) and that resources be shifted to primary prevention.

Parks, Playgrounds, and Incidents of Sexual Assault

“…One approach to measuring the prevalence of sexual assaults at parks and playgrounds involves gauging where offenders come into contact with their victims. Collectively, these studies show parks are rarely contact points for victims and offenders (Calkins, Colombino, Matsuura, & Jeglic, 2015; Colombino, Mercado, & Jeglic, 2009; Colombino, Mercado, Levenson, & Jeglic, 2011; Mogavero & Kennedy, 2017; Smallbone & Wortley, 2000). To illustrate, using a sample of 270 higher risk convicted sex offenders in New Jersey, Mogavero and Kennedy (2017) found that a total of 222 of the offenders in the study (82.2%) came in contact with their victim at a residence.…”

“…For the 15 sexual assaults committed at a park that were investigated by Colombino et al (2011), the majority were children ( n = 12) versus adults ( n = 3). For the 10 sexual assaults committed at a park that were investigated by Calkins et al (2015), seven offenses were committed against a youth victim and three against an adult victim. For the four sexual assaults committed at a park that were investigated by Mogavero and Kennedy (2017), all four were committed against youth: one against a victim who was under 12 and the other three against victims aged 12 to 17 years.…”

“…There is even less work to date assessing whether strangers are more apt to use parks and playgrounds than other locations as their crime site location. In the sole study specifically addressing parks and strangers, of the 10 sexual assaults identified by Calkins and her colleagues (2015), four were committed by an acquaintance and six by a stranger. One other study addresses victim–offender relationship but more generally in relation to social space.…”

Sex Offender Policy and Prevention

“…It is no surprise, then, that the typical image of a sex offender is someone who offends against strangers-a person who lurks in the bushes and on edges of playgrounds, waiting for his opportunity to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. Research has long demonstrated, however, that the vast majority of sex crimes are perpetrated by someone known to the victim (recent estimates suggest that up to 85 % of victims knew their attacker; Calkins, Colombino, Matsuura, & Jeglic, 2015 ;Colombino, Mercado, & Jeglic, 2009 ; Minnesota Department of Corrections [MDC], 2003 ;Snyder, 2000 ). This is particularly true among child victims-a recent study by Snyder ( 2000 ) suggests that between 93 and 97 % of children were offended against by a non-stranger perpetrator, a fi gure that is consistent with prior studies of childhood victimization (Greenfeld, 1997 ).…”

“…While stranger predation in itself is rare, it is even less common for very young children to be targeted in public places, such as playgrounds or bus stops, by an unknown offender. In fact, a mere 0.3 % of all sexual assaults occur between a stranger offender and a child victim under the age of 13 in a public space (Calkins et al, 2015 ). Despite this, a disproportionate amount of sex offender legislation is designed exclusively to address this incredibly rare scenario.…”