Reply #205: The research you cite is pretty much bogus. [View All]

[suzie]

Many of the studies on recidivism cited by CSOM were done in the 80s and 90s. Public acknowledgment, enhanced reporting and prosecution of child sexual abuse only started happening in the 1980s.

CSOM cites many studies which were done on recidivism at a time when there wasn't great reporting or record-keeping. One of the effects of enhanced prosecution was that child sexual abuse cases stopped disappearing. In the times in which the research you cite was done, offenders were caught, perhaps plead to a reduced non-sex crime sentence, or served their time and moved on to a new jurisdiction where they could molest more children before they were again apprehended.

Most people who molest children are known to the child--'intrafamilial' gives one the notion of parent, stepparent, when most cases are relatives, friends, neighbors. And even among the 'intrafamilial' group of molesters, the offender usually has victims outside the family as well as within.

Before these cases were well-investigated, law enforcement didn't think to ask 'intrafamilial' victims if their parent/stepparent had also molested all their friends. When they started doing so, they discovered that very often the offender had molested a much larger group of children.

Sex offender registries are probably not the most effective tool against sex offenders--lifetime parole is likely the only reasonable solution. But again, your statement about them is misleading. Someone who lives in the neighborhood is 'known to the child' and a patterned child molester will find all kinds of kids to 'befriend' within a short period of time.