SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY RESEARCH

High-Risk Sex Offenders May Not Be High Risk Forever

Hanson, Harris & Thornton | March, 2014

Study examined 7,740 sex offenders from 21 samples over a 20 year period.

KEY FINDINGS:

  • After 5 years, high-risk sex offenders had a 22% recidivism rate

  • Of those remaining in the community for ten years, the reoffense rate droped to only 4.2%

  • Low-risk offenders over the ten year period consistently had a low recidivism rates of betwen 1-5%.

WHAT THIS TELLS US:

 

  • Myths about sex offenders having 80% recidivsm rates are complete nonsense
  • Lifetime registry requirements are unwarranted as even high-risk offenders develop very low reoffense rates after 10 years in the community
  • Low-risk offenders have very low reoffense rate and their presence on the registry is unneeded

As many as 40% of children who are sexually abused are abused by older, or more powerful children

Finkelhor, D. (2012). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles. Durham, NH: Crimes against Children Research Center.

70% of child sexual offenders have between one and 9 victims, while 20% have 10 to 40 victims

Finkelhor, D., Ormrod,R., Chaffin, M. (2009) Juveniles who commit sex offenses against minors. Juvenile Justice Bulletin, OJJDP, Office of Justice Programs

Results from contingency analyses suggest that several sex offenders are overclassified

Evaluating the Accuracy of SORNA: Testing for Classification Errors and Racial Bias

Out of 746 offenders who were release from prison for committing a sex crime, 27 (3.6%) of them were arrested and charged with a new sex crime within 5 years of their release.

Recidivism among sex offenders in Connecticut

State of Connecticut
Office of Policy and Management
February 15, 2012

Study found that 8% of 490 registered sex offenders in South Carolina had

Results from contingency analyses suggest that several sex offenders are overclassified

Evaluating the Accuracy of SORNA: Testing for Classification Errors and Racial Bias

Recalibrating the Sex Offender Registration System Recalibrating the Sex Offender Registration System

Erin Schoenbeck Byre | April 2022
University of St. Thomas Law Journal

Modernized female sex offender typologies: Intrapsychic, behavioral, and trauma related domains

Mathew Gullotta, David Greenberg, Armita Adily, Jesse Cale & Tony G. Butler | 2020

Implications of sex offender classification on reporting demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers: results from an Australian jurisdiction

2020

The Characteristics of Persistent Sexual Offenders: A Meta-Analysis of Recidivism Studies

R. Karl Hanson & Kelly E. Morton-Bourgon | January, 2006 

Modernized female sex offender typologies: Intrapsychic, behavioral, and trauma related domains

Mathew Gullotta, David Greenberg, Armita Adily, Jesse Cale & Tony G. Butler | 2020

Implications of sex offender classification on reporting demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers: results from an Australian jurisdiction

2020

The Characteristics of Persistent Sexual Offenders: A Meta-Analysis of Recidivism Studies

R. Karl Hanson & Kelly E. Morton-Bourgon | January, 2006 

Modernized female sex offender typologies: Intrapsychic, behavioral, and trauma related domains

Mathew Gullotta, David Greenberg, Armita Adily, Jesse Cale & Tony G. Butler | 2020

Implications of sex offender classification on reporting demographic characteristics, health, and criminal careers: results from an Australian jurisdiction

2020