Cynthia Calkins Mercado

Preventing sexual violence: can examination of offense location inform sex crime policy?

Recently, legislative initiatives to prevent sex crime recidivism include the passage of child safety zones (also called loitering zones) that prohibit sex offenders from lingering near places where children congregate. The ability of policies such as these or residence restrictions to curb sexual recidivism depends on the empirical reality of sex offender perpetration patterns. As such, the current study sought to examine locations where sex offenders first come into contact with their victims and whether sex crime locations differ among those who perpetrate offenses against children as compared to those who perpetrate offenses against adults. Further, this study examined actuarial risk scores and recidivism rates among offenders who met victims in child-dense public locations to determine if these offenders are more at risk of re-offense. Descriptive analyses, based on archival sex offender file review (N=1557), revealed that offenders primarily cultivated their offenses in private residential locations (67.0%); relatively few offenders (4.4%) met their victims in child-dense public locations. Further, offenders who perpetrated crimes against children were more likely to meet victims within a residence, while those who perpetrate crimes against adults were more likely to encounter victims in a more public type of location (e.g., bar, workplace). Though only 3.7% of all offenders in this sample sexually recidivated, those who recidivated were more likely to have met their victim in a child-dense public location than those who did not recidivate. Current sex crime policies that focus only on where offenders live may fail to focus on where offenders go and, further, may misdirect efforts away from the place where sex crimes most often occur, namely, in the home.

Are Actuarial Risk Data Used to Make Determinations of Sex Offender Risk Classification?: An Examination of Sex Offenders Selected for Enhanced Registration and Notification

This study examined whether evaluators use actuarial risk scores and risk information to make determinations about sex offender risk status for the purpose of enhanced registration and notification. Although it was expected that sexual offenders selected for enhanced registration and notification would have higher scores on actuarial risk assessment tools than those who were not selected, few differences were found between groups with regard to risk factors associated with sexual offense recidivism. Given that actuarial tools enhance the prediction of sexual recidivism, this study may shed light on problems in the implementation of sex offender policy measures. Results are discussed as they pertain to the assessment and application of registration and community notification statutes for sexual offenders.

Persistent sexual abusers in the Catholic Church: an examination of characteristics and offense patterns

This study aims to enhance understanding of clergy offending patterns through a comparison of low-rate and high-rate clergy offenders. Data for these re-analyses are derived from 3,674 cases from the Nature and Scope of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. This article compares those clerics who had just one allegation with those who had a moderate (2 to 3), high (4 to 9), or exceptionally high (10-plus) number of allegations of sexual abuse. Findings reveal that the 3.7% ( n =137) who had 10 or more victims accounted for a disproportionate 24.8% of the abuse. Priests with the most victims began perpetrating offenses at an earlier age and were more likely to have male victims than those who abused fewer victims. The importance of research addressing the causes and situational correlates of sexual offending by priests, as well as the need for more refined management strategies, are discussed.

Situational Aspects of Sexual Offending: Implications for Residence Restriction Laws:

Residence restriction laws, which aim to restrict known sex offenders from residing near child-dense community structures, appear, in part, to be based on the assumption that sex offenders are likely to seek out their victims in public places where children congregate. The current study examined the locations where offenders first came into contact with their victims and the locations where offenders perpetrated offenses. Archival case files (N = 405) of adult male sex offenders were analyzed to determine the frequency with which sex offenders met their victims and offended in public, semi-public, or private locations. Descriptive analyses revealed that 76.5% of the sex offenders in this sample met their victims in private locations, while 7.7% met their victims in semi-public settings, and 15.8% met their victims in public settings. Similarly, 82.2% of index offenses took place in private locations, while 10.9% and 6.9% occurred in semi-public and public locations, respectively. Given that a minority of offenses occur in public settings, sex offender-specific legislation that restricts offender access to child-dense places may be most effective if tailored narrowly to offender subtypes most likely to seek out victims in public places.

Repeat Offending, Victim Gender, and Extent of Victim Relationship in Catholic Church Sexual Abusers: Implications for Risk Assessment

Despite wide reports of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, empirical data on Catholic Church sexual abuse have not been readily available. The present study examines factors associated with sex-offender risk assessment along three criteria (repeat offending, victim gender, and victim relationship) on a sample of sexual abusers in the Catholic Church. Data from 4,392 priests with documented allegations of child sexual abuse were used. Logistic regression analysis resulted in significant predictive models for all comparisons. Factors consistently found to be significant predictors across comparisons included victim age, cleric age, all male victims, and history of victimization. Results suggest that risk predictors for Catholic Church sexual abusers are similar to those used in the general sex-offender population.

Implications of Static-99 Field Reliability Findings for Score Use and Reporting:

The Static-99 is a well-researched measure used in many courtroom and correctional settings to help make decisions about sexual offenders. But, as with most forensic assessment measures, we know much more about interrater agreement for the Static-99 in formal research studies than in routine forensic and correctional practice. This study describes “field reliability” for the Static-99 in two states that use the Static-99 for routine correctional procedures, Texas (N = 600) and New Jersey (N = 135). Rater agreement coefficients were strong for Static-99 total scores (intraclass correlations = .79 and .88), but the total scores assigned by pairs of evaluators differed for approximately 45% of offenders in each state. Because each individual Static-99 score has a unique interpretation, and a 1-point difference in a Static-99 score can have substantial practical implications for decision making, these findings suggest the need for administration procedures or interpretation methods that acknowledge and account for measurement error in Static-99 total scores.

An Examination of Suicide Attempts Among Incarcerated Sex Offenders

Little is known about suicide attempts among sex offenders. This study examines the rates of nonfatal suicide attempts among a sample (N = 3,030) of incarcerated male sex offenders. Overall, the authors found that 14% of sex offenders in the study sample had made a suicide attempt at some point in their lives. Of those, 11% had reported a suicide attempt prior to incarceration, 0.5% had made a suicide attempt while incarcerated, and 2.5% made suicide attempts both prior to and during incarceration. Sex offenders who made suicide attempts were significantly more likely than those who did not make suicide attempts to have had an abusive childhood, a history of psychiatric problems, intellectual impairment, male victims, and related victims. Suicide attempters also scored higher on actuarial risk measures than nonattempters. No differences were found in attempter status between sex offenders who committed sex offenses against children and those who committed sex offenses against adults. A history of psychiatric problems and treatment as well as childhood abuse/neglect and perpetration against male victims predicted suicide attempter status. These findings are discussed as they pertain to suicide prevention, risk assessment, and the collateral consequences of sex offender legislation.

Application of the Polygraph Examination in the Assessment and Treatment of Internet Sex Offenders

Abstract Mental health and criminal justice professionals have been faced with the emergence of a new category of sex offender who utilizes the Internet to initiate or commit deviant sexual acts. Although the number of sex-related Internet crimes continues to increase, there is limited information pertaining to the characteristics and offense patterns of this specific subtype of sex offender. This lack of information poses challenges in the assessment and treatment of this population. The polygraph examination, which may result in the revelation of previously undisclosed offenses or risk factors for re-offending, may have particular utility with Internet sex offenders given that little is known about the nature of their offense patterns. Although use of the polygraph may hold special promise for this population, caution is advised, given the limitations of polygraph techniques.

An Exploration of Crossover Sexual Offending

Studies have produced equivocal findings regarding whether sex offenders are stable in their choice of victims. Indeed, it remains unclear whether a sex offender’s subsequent victims are typically of the same gender, age range, and victim–perpetrator relationship as that of the initial victim. Although some differences may be attributed to methodological disparities, others are not. This study sought to clarify this question by examining the tendency of sex offenders to switch from one type of victim to another, both within an index offense and across offenses and all victims. Archival records of 789 incarcerated sex offenders were examined. Of those offenders who had multiple victims at the index offense (n = 279), 13% had victims of both genders, 14% had victims in different age categories (child, adolescent, and adult), and 13% had varying relationships with the victims (i.e., family member, acquaintance, or stranger). When the records of those with past sexual convictions were examined (n = 208), 20% of offenders had a prior victim of a different gender; 40% crossed over across age categories, and 48% of the repeat offenders had varying relationships with the victim across convictions. Offenders who had both male and female victims and offenders who had victims of varied relationship status across crimes had higher Static-99 risk scores than offenders who were more stable with regard to victim selection. These findings are compared to those of previous studies, focusing on how these results add clarity to a previous literature whose conclusions were challenged by the use of disparate sampling and research methodologies.

Priests Who Abuse and Were Abused: Understanding Victimization in the Catholic Church

Abstract Little research to date has examined the relevance of abuse history for distinct types of offenders. This study compared clerics who were abused in childhood with clerics who were not abused in childhood with regard to victim, offender, and offense characteristics. Findings revealed that clergy with a history of victimization tended to have more male victims, began offending earlier in their career, offended for a longer period of time, and were more likely to have a history of substance abuse or other behavioral problems than nonvictimized clerics. Although prior research has not observed a direct relationship between victimization and future offending, these findings suggest that sexual victimization may play a role in the etiological development of distinct offending patterns.